Gate: Thus the Swarm Consumed All
by inphernalmenace
Summary: A Gate opens, and the forces of the Saderan Empire go through, but the easy conquest they hoped for is anything but. The Empire is instead confronted with its worst nightmare. Falmart won't know what hit it. Note: This will not be a typical Gate fic
1. Chapter 1

**A note from the author:**

 **I see a lot of Gate fics and nearly all of them are essentially a rehash of the original story except with a few names changed. And sometimes they don't even bother to change the names and they still use Itami even though there is no Japan. This story will not be like that. The stations of canon will be out of sight from the very beginning. There will be no freedom and democracy brought to the Empire. The zerg don't do democracy.**

 **I hope to make this story a unique take on Gate, one not bound by the need to follow the plotline of the original story.**

* * *

 **Chapter 1**

The screeches of zerglings filled the air as two armies clashed on the fields of Zerus. The mutalisks of the Zerg Swarm engaged in a vicious dogfight with the primal mutalisks of Yagdra's pack. The Swarm was surrounded on all sides as they struggled to fight off the assaults from Yagdra's pack which was seeking to overrun the primal spawning pool. The Swarm had to hold on until their queen could be reborn. The vast numbers of the primal zerg were threatening to overwhelm the Swarm, but there wasn't much time left before the Chrysalis would open. It seemed likely that they could hold on, but it would be close.

The Swarm's defenses around the primal spawning pool were meticulous. Zagara, who was aboard the Leviathan, was in charge of leading the Swarm during Kerrigan's transformation, and she had done a fine job. The ramps leading into the area were blocked off with spine crawlers. Behind the spine crawlers were several swarm hosts which produced expendable minions to help hold back the advance of the primal zerg. Of course, surrounding the vulnerable swarm hosts were groups of roaches and hydralisks which made up the core of the army.

The defensive arrangement was effective and already the had repelled several attacks by Yagdra's pack. Suddenly, Zagara received concerning information. It seemed that their drones that were collecting resources were being killed off. Somehow, attackers had managed to bypass their defenses. Zagara quickly focused her attention to try to eliminate the attackers which had emerged inside the base.

When the overlords reported what they were seeing, Zagara was shocked. They were being attacked by a bunch of terrans. How were terrans even on Zerus? These terrans also looked a lot different from the terrans the zerg were familiar with. Rather than wearing the power armor terran marines used, the soldiers appeared to be wearing some thin metal armor and holding shields. They were equipped with melee weapons and not guns. From a cursory inspection, it seemed that the combat capabilities of these new terrans were vastly inferior to the terrans of the Koprulu Sector.

The invading terrans also seemed to be accompanied by strange beasts. Some were large and physically powerful. There were some flying creatures that held riders. There were also some creatures that looked very similar to terrans but had exotic traits that set them apart. Zagara had never seen these creatures before and their full capabilities were unknown. She was starting to become somewhat concerned that the terrans had somehow surpassed the zerg in biological research. Also, some of these terrans seemed to be able to use some form of psionics as they could accomplish physical impossibilities such as summoning fire from nothing.

However, these terrans could not stand up to the zerg in an ordinary fight. The Swarm was used to fighting far stronger enemies. The "armor" worn by the terran soldiers was useless against even zerglings, whose claws had been designed to pierce neosteel. Even in a fight on an open field with both sides having equal numbers, the Swarm could easily overrun these weak terrans, not to mention the fact that the Swarm usually vastly outnumbers its opponents. Unfortunately, this was no ordinary fight. Although these terrans were weak, there were thousands of them and they had appeared in the back of the base where they began wrecked havoc with the Swarm's production. Several overlords had been killed by those flying creatures.

The worst part of the situation is that there were no forces in place to stop them, as Zagara had not anticipated that they could be attacked within their own base. Zagara quickly ordered the roaches and hydralisks to head toward the interior of the base to fight off the terrans. Unfortunately, it would take some time for them to get there. Time they didn't have as the terrans were already approaching the Chrysalis.

Zagara quickly conversed with Abathur, who was on site studying the primal pool. Abathur had figured out how to use the pool to spawn locusts. They had no other choice now, the locusts had to be used.

Once the locusts were unleashed, the terran soldiers were quickly dissolved by the acid spewed out by the locusts. Many of them screamed in terror as their doom descended from the sky. They began trying to run away, but the locusts were inescapable as they hunted down the terrans. Once the bulk of the terran army was cleared away, the roaches and hydralisks sent to secure the interior of the base were able to kill the remaining terran stragglers and secure the area that those terrans were using to enter.

There was a large structure standing inside the base. A large frame held an opening to another location, and it seemed to be like a protoss warp gate. The gate opened up to a large tunnel, which was currently filled with those strange terrans which were locked in combat with the zerg. The zerg reinforcements were quickly able to surround the gate and prevent any more enemies from emerging through it to attack the zerg base. The Swarm was also beginning to push forward into the tunnel, though progress was slow because the opening was narrow.

Then, a loud, booming voice was heard as Yagdra commanded his pack. "Destroy them! Wipe out the broken pack and kill that weakling that calls herself a queen! Show them the power of the true zerg!"

Immediately following Yagdra's roar, a huge wave of primal zerg began pouring out of the forest. While the Swarm was preoccupied with the gate, they were stuck in the front by a massive assault of primal zerg. Yagdra's pack was launching an all out attack against the Swarm. Zagara had not anticipated such a massive assault, and the removal of some of the defending units had weakened their front lines. A charge of primal ultralisks weathered the locusts made by the swarm hosts and the ultralisks broke through the spine crawlers.

The tide of primal zerg that flooded in behind the ultralisks began overrunning the defenseless swarm hosts. The defenders fought to their last to try to hold off the primal attackers, but with the frontlines thrown into chaos, their resistance was ultimately futile. The forces the Swarm had positioned on the front lines were more or less wiped out. All that was left were scattered groups of zerg that had been sent to clean up the terran attack. The remainder of the Swarm's forces rallied around the Chrysalis as the primal pack began closing in on all sides. For once, the Swarm was now the one being outnumbered, and they needed every last zergling to hold the line. Even the drones had been pulled away from mining in the last moments.

The Swarm fought with all of their might, but slowly but surely they were losing ground and soon they only had a fraction of their forces remaining. The remainder of the Swarm's forces that had come to guard the area were now gathered around the Chrysalis as Yagdra's pack closed in.

Then, a cracking noise sounded from the center of the Swarm's forces. A pair of wings poked out of the Chrysalis and began tearing it open. As the Chrysalis fell apart, Kerrigan emerged, now once again zerg, but primal this time and more powerful than ever before. Upon her emergence from the Chrysalis, a massive wave of psionic force emerged which was a conspicuous beacon that lit up the sky. For a moment, all on the battlefield paused.

Kerrigan unleashed her power, creating a powerful psionic storm which ripped apart a multitude of the attacking primal zerg. However, more of Yagdra's pack soon took their place as the primal zerg redoubled their attack, hoping to nip this threat in the bud. The battle resumed, with greater intensity than before. Rows of roaches and hydralisks shot at each other with their acid attacks and spines, and there were several ultralisks rampaging on the battlefield.

On the front lines, ripping through scores of primal zerg, was Kerrigan. At the moment she was in the middle of slicing a primal roach in half. One of Yagdra's hydralisks reared up behind her, before letting loose a volley of spines. The spines shot through the air, looking as though they would be able to bury themselves into the back of the zerg queen. Before they could connect, Kerrigan turned around. The spines, captured by her telekinetic grip, froze in the air before turning around and flying right back to the hydralisk that shot them. The spines pierced through the primal hydralisk's stomach, neck, and head. The hydralisk slumped to the ground, dead, but already Kerrigan had turned her attention toward another one of Yagdra's roaches.

Suddenly, the ground shook as an ultralisk approached. It was one of Yagdra's, which could clearly be seen because of how different it looked from a normal zerg ultralisk. It was less heavily armored, and lacked the Kaiser blades an ordinary zerg ultralisk would had. Instead, it used the claws on its front limbs to attack. In fact, it was quite odd why they were called ultralisks in the first place. The primal zerg clearly hadn't stolen it from them as they didn't even have ultralisks with them. Perhaps Abathur had named it an ultralisk just to establish somewhat of a rough equivalency between the primal zerg and the Swarm.

Kerrigan ducked to the left as the ultralisk brought its claw down. With a burst of speed, she dashed right under it and slashed at its underbelly, leaving a deep wound, before leaping away when the ultralisk brought its claws back. Shortly after she landed on the ground after leaping away, a primal zergling, which had snuck up while she was fighting with the ultralisk, leaped forward and bit into her right leg with its jaws.

Snarling in annoyance, Kerrigan reached down and tore the zergling off of her leg before throwing it at the ultralisk. The ultralisk paid no heed to the zergling, which was trampled under the feet of the massive creature as it charged forward. Kerrigan leapt up into the air as the ultralisk tried to swipe at her feet. The other claw of the ultralisk came in from the side, but she blocked it with her wing, leading to her being knocked to the side. However, Kerrigan's motion suddenly changed direction as she used her psionic power to propel herself toward the ultralisk, hoping to land on top of it.

However, this plan was soon abandoned as a pair of mutalisks dived down to strike at Kerrigan. She blocked the glaive worms sent by the mutalisks and landed on the ground on both feet. Immediately upon landing she dove to the side, narrowly avoiding another swipe from the ultralisk before sending a blast of psionic energy toward the mutalisks, ripping them apart.

The ultralisk once more charged toward Kerrigan, but before it could reach her, she burrowed underground swiftly. The ultralisk barreled over where she had stood and was confused with the disappearance of its prey. Then, the ground behind it shifted as Kerrigan emerged from the ground and leapt onto the ultralisk's back. After landing on top of the ultralisk, she charged up some psionic energy before blasting it into the beast below her. The ultralisk fell to the ground.

A veritable field of corpses surrounded Kerrigan. Already, hundreds of the primal zerg had died by her hand, but the tide of enemies seemed unending. Although Kerrigan's entrance into the battle had greatly boosted the Swarm's strength, they were still slowly being whittled down by the relentless attacks of Yagdra's pack. The few remaining hydralisks and roaches were beginning to fall, overwhelmed by the sheer volume of attacks. Zerglings weren't designed to survive very long, instead being a cheap and disposable unit used to overwhelm the enemy with numbers. However, in the current situation, even losing zerglings was a huge blow to the meager forces of the Swarm.

Though Kerrigan had been tossed into battle from the very moment of her rebirth, she still had the chance to appraise herself of the situation she was in as she received the reports from her Swarm. Eventually, she was able to find out what had happened to lead to the current predicament.

Kerrigan bemoaned their present state. Things had been going so well before. All the Swarm had to do was just had to hold the line until she returned. Unfortunately, things had gone awry with the appearance of that strange gate. It had caused great distraction to her forces and allowed the primal zerg to break through their defenses, resulting in much of her forces being wiped out. If the Swarm had still been whole when she had emerged from the cocoon, they wouldn't be in this situation.

Kerrigan was tempted to lambast her subordinates for their incompetence, but she had to admit that there had been no way to have prepared for what happened. The gate was truly something bizarre. Looking at Zagara's memories of the event, it seemed like they had been attacked by what amounted to medieval humans. They even had swords and shields! No one even used those nowadays.

What was more interesting was how the human armies had utilized what seemed to be dragons and ogres. It was almost like they had walked straight out of some fairy tale or something. Maybe they had walked out of a fairy tale, that would make as much sense as any other explanation. These humans couldn't have been from Earth, as Earth had long moved past such primitive technologies. Nor could they be from any other planet in the Koprulu Sector as she had not heard of any terran colonies living with such base technologies. Even if there had been an undiscovered lost colony that had somehow degraded to such barbarism, there would still be no way for them to travel to Zerus. How could those who didn't even have guns manage to travel across space?

Trying to figure out more about them could wait for now. What was done was done. Now, their position was overrun and the Swarm needed to evacuate. However, the Leviathan was unable to land because of the multitude of primal fliers in the area and because there was no safe landing zone. Kerrigan and her forces were stuck in the middle of hostile territory, surrounded by a massive army that was grinding them down bit by bit. What escape could be found in such a situation?

However, there was one last avenue open to them, but it would be a risky endeavor which would be full of uncertainty. There was the gate, a strange portal that was nearby which could take them away from this place. Currently, the tunnel was embroiled in a three way fight with the terran soldiers on one end and the primal zerg on the other end with a small group of the Swarm's forces stuck in the middle. Although things were bad for the Swarm's forces trapped in the tunnel, the narrowness of the tunnel meant that they were able to hold on for quite a long time. Also, if Kerrigan and her forces were to escape through the gate, then they would be able to hold off the primal zerg at the chokepoint.

After a moment of contemplation, Kerrigan decided on their next course of action. Remaining out in the open to fight the primal zerg would be useless as her army would slowly be killed off. Although she was powerful, even the reborn Queen of Blades could be worn down and killed if she was surrounded and tried to fight an entire pack of primal zerg alone. Not to mention, the other packs seemed hostile to her as well and she might have to fight through them as well.

However, going through the gate would be a huge risk. They knew nothing of the gate and how it functioned. Who knows what lay on the other side? If they went through, there was no guarantee that they could return as the gate could close without their knowledge. This would be a gamble, but they had no other choice.

Kerrigan spoke to Zagara telepathically, "I will have to take what remains of our army through the gate. Zagara, take control of the Leviathan and keep it safe. I will try to return once we have rebuilt our strength."

"As you command, my queen", Zagara replied. "I will do my best to keep the Leviathan and what forces remain alive."

After the decision was made, it was time for the Swarm to move. Kerrigan unleashed a psionic storm which fried a large group of primal zerg, leaving a gap in the encirclement. The Swarm took advantage of this gap and charged through. The Swarm fought a running retreat as they moved toward the gate and they were constantly harried by the primal zerg which were pursuing them. At one point Kerrigan had to use another psionic storm to clear out a group of primal zerg blocking their path. While it might have been possible for the Swarm to defeat them, it would have taken too long and led to the main force of Yagdra's brood catching up.

Finally, the Swarm reached the gate. This gate had been a cause of disaster for the Swarm, leading to their defensive lines being thrown into chaos. However, now it had become their salvation, the only hope to survive. However, there was a group of primal zerg guarding the gate which would have to be defeated. The Swarm charged forth and engaged in a fierce battle with the primal zerg. Now, the primal defenders were the ones outnumbered, and with Kerrigan backing up the Swarm, the primal zerg didn't stand a chance. Once the defenders outside the gate were defeated, the Swarm gathered to prepare to enter and fight the remaining primal zerg in the tunnel, and perhaps whatever lay beyond the gate.

After Kerrigan gave her final orders to the zerg which would remain on the Zerus side of the gate, she turned back to gaze over Zerus. Kerrigan hated that she was being forced to run away. Even with her newfound power, it wasn't enough to turn the tides of such an imbalanced situation. Kerrigan was enraged with this humiliation, but for the time being she would have to accept being on the back foot.

"I will return", the Queen of Blades declared. "And when I return, all shall know the fury of the Swarm. Savor your brief reprieve while you can, primals. You won't have very long to enjoy it."

After saying her piece, Kerrigan turned around and led the remainder of the Swarm through the gate. She was at the front of the charge, swiftly clearing out the remaining primal zerg within the tunnel as she tore them apart with her claws and wings or burned them the ashes with her psionic powers. Eventually, the entirety of their forces had entered the tunnel and soon they met up with the other group which had entered the tunnel earlier.

With all of their forces now together, the Swarm began pushing through to the other side of the tunnel, easily destroying the poorly equipped terrans. On the other side, the primal pack was now pushing into the tunnel, but Kerrigan held the line in defending against Yagdra's pack. In the enclosed space, the primal zerg could not make use of their numerical superiority and Kerrigan was able to dispatch them piecemeal.

Yagdra's pack continued to stream through the gate, but they never returned. Yagdra wanted to take things into his own hand and fight Kerrigan himself, but he could not fit through the gate. So, Yagdra was stuck waiting outside the gate and his subordinates continued to try and fail at breaking through.

The corpses of the primal pack piled up and soon the primal zerg had to dig through the corpses of their own brethren to even get through. As the tunnel clogged up, their rate of entry trickled to virtually nothing. Those that managed to make it through were killed almost instantly. Yagdra saw that further attacks were useless and only served to throw away forces for no gain, and thus he ordered the attacks to cease.

With the attacks of the primal zerg no longer a threat, the Swarm put all of its effort into pushing through to the other side of the gate. They trampled over the remnants of the human army which had went through the gate. The resistance of the primitive humans was futile as they were quickly devoured by the zerg Swarm. Eventually, the last of the humans had either died or fled and the Swarm charged forward undeterred, heading toward the light shining out of the end of the tunnel.

Finally, the Swarm emerged into a new world.


	2. Chapter 2

**I was surprised by how much interest there was in this story, I didn't think it would be so popular. Also, I would like to thank everyone who commented, the comments really mean a lot to me.**

* * *

 **Chapter 2**

Sarah Kerrigan gazed out at the land before her. After passing through the gate, the dark and cramped tunnel gave way to a wide and open space, an entire new world. There was a clear blue sky above her, and the rays of the sun illuminated the land. The air was fresh, lacking any of the pollution associated with industrialized societies.

The Swarm had emerged on top of a hill and from all sides they could gaze out into the distance at the land beneath them. Lush fields of grass covered the landscape, and there was a river, gently flowing as it meandered through the countryside. It was a pure, unspoiled land, full of natural beauty. It was a quiet and peaceful land, untouched by the ravages of war. That would soon change.

The Swarm was not idle, it quickly began securing itself in this new world. A drone began morphing into a hatchery atop the hill, the beginnings of a new hive cluster. The surrounding land was being surveyed to identify any resource deposits. From these humble beginnings, a terrifying force would soon emerge.

Kerrigan began contemplating her new situation. Things were about as well as could be hoped. The planet on the other side of the gate was hospitable and would be a fine target for the Swarm's expansion. The attacks from the primal zerg through the gate had ceased, and they were unlikely to resume as the gate provided a strong defensive advantage to both sides. They would be safe on that front at the very least.

Still, it didn't mean they could be negligent. They would likely be attacked by the native inhabitants of this world. This meant that they needed to build some defenses and bolster their forces. Moreover, there could be unknown threats lurking in the background, so vigilance would be needed to make sure the Swarm would not fall to an unexpected threat.

The hive cluster was developing well as expected. Already, creep was beginning to spread across the ground, turning the lush green grass into a carpet of purple goo. Creep was the basis of the Swarm's infrastructure, it served as nourishment for the zerg creatures and buildings. The expansion of the swarm necessitated the expansion of creep. A spawning pool was established near the hatchery. After it was completed, it was time to begin strengthening their military capabilities.

A few spine crawlers were built, creating some defenses at the perimeter of the base. Zerglings were beginning to hatch from the larva around the hatchery, reinforcing the existing forces. Though it had only been a couple days, already the Swarm had begun entrenching itself in this world. Given time, their rate of growth would only increase.

However, it seemed that they would meet their first challenge now. A large force of human soldiers had assembled and were now approaching the hive cluster.

* * *

Senator Godasen thought back to the events of the past few days as he and his army were marching on Alnus Hill. Just several days prior, everything had seemed normal. The Saderan army was conducting an exploratory raid through the gate. Their advance force, consisting of some of the more powerful and most skilled of their army, backed by wyvern riders and beasts, went through the gate. The thought of defeat hadn't even been in any of their minds.

A large force entered the gate, but only a few men emerged alive. The main body of the army had been camped near the outskirts of Alnus Hill, and it was there where the escaping men went to. They screamed about monsters, terrifying beasts that tore them apart. The men were hysterical and seemed to have taken leave of their sanity. Chaos spread through the army when they heard about what the survivors claimed. Many of their men were fearful, and some even thought the end was upon them.

Senator Godasen recalled how difficult it was to calm his men. The morale of the army was close to falling apart and there were already men running away and deserting. After all, few believed that they could stand up to an army of demons. However, one of the survivors mentioned that he heard one of his fellow soldiers mention that they killed one of those strange creatures. Though this occurrence was not verified and was devoid of context, Godasen seized upon this testimony to restore the army's will to fight. This showed that these creatures can indeed be killed. They were not undefeatable, and as long as there was a way, there would be hope.

Godasen remembered what he had said, standing before the panicked men as he reinvigorated them with fighting spirit. "Proud warriors of the empire", he yelled. "Are you really so weak, so craven, that you cannot defeat mere beasts? We are the soldiers of the strongest empire in the world, and there is nothing which can defeat us. Now that those beasts have left their den, and come to our soil, there is nothing to stop us from crushing them. They are dumb beasts, we are humans, blessed with intelligence and weaponry; we shall definitely prevail. We fight to defend the empire, to defend our homes. There is nothing that will stand in the way of our task. Will you stand and fight like a true warrior, or will you run away like a coward?"

For a moment, the men had been silent. Godasen had felt doubt in his heart, but he didn't let it show on his face. Then, the men erupted into cheers. "Victory! Victory!", the shouted. The situation had turned around, and now it was time to bring the fight to the invaders.

Those who had fled were quickly tracked down and forced back into the army. The men had burst into a flurry of optimism and they worked energetically to prepare for battle. All doubt about their prospects was suppressed and the men of the army were completely self assured of their victory. When they finally began to move out, their orderly ranks and discipline showed them to be the professional and well trained soldiers that they are. These soldiers were backed up by ogres and wyvern riders and they also had catapults with them.

And now, the army was marching toward Holy Alnus Hill, ready to confront the enemy that awaits them and expel them from these sacred grounds. As they approached the hill, they spotted the zerg structures above. The structures seemed like bloated sacks affixed to the ground which writhed and twisted constantly. The slimy creep was visible even from a distance as it had blanketed the once green hill with a carpet of purple. The soldiers found the zerg grotesque and the sight filled them with disgust. This would be an extermination mission, to wipe away the blight that despoiled Alnus Hill. The soldiers thought of it as nothing more than pest control.

Soon, the zerg army came within view. In the front, there were some strange quadrupedal creatures that resembled dogs with claws. They were the most numerous. Behind them, were some snake like creatures that seemed to be able to slither upright. There were also short creatures covered in what appeared to be tough armor. In the skies, there were large sacks of flesh which floated around aimlessly. Although these creatures were unlike any that had ever been seen before, the men weren't concerned in the slightest. From the soldiers' point of view, they were beasts, as was to be expected.

While some might have found the zerg unsettling, the soldiers were used to the sight of strange creatures, be they ogres, beastmen, or wyverns. In comparison, the zerglings, roaches and hydralisks, didn't seem too frightening. Furthermore, the zerg had only partially built up their numbers, so the human army still outnumbered them. The soldiers, seeing that they had the numbers advantage fighting against animals, were confident that they could easily triumph. After all, animals had no sense of organization and would fight as a disorganized mob. Against trained legions fighting in formation, the beasts wouldn't stand a chance, or so they thought. From a distance, the creatures didn't seem scary. However, the coming fight would be the most frightening experience in the lives of these soldiers as they confronted the zerg face to face, with the terrifying visage of the zerg burned into their eyes.

As the army began moving up the hill, the zerg struck. A horde of zerglings rushed down the hill, running directly toward the legion's shield wall. All eyes were affixed upon the fast approaching tide as the men watched in anticipation. The soldiers braced for impact, locking their shields together and anchoring them to the ground as the zerglings attacked.

The front row of soldiers found their shields being torn through by the claws of the zerglings. Many of them swung their swords around ineffectively, with only a few managing to actually kill a zergling with a lucky hit. The soldiers in the front screamed as claws tore them apart. The screams of men filled the air as the zerglings tore a bloody swath through the front rows of the army. The men behind them tried to strike back, but the attack was too ferocious.

Then, a group of ogres were sent into battle. The strong ogres slammed down with their heavy clubs, managing to crush some of the zerglings. Seeing this, the soldiers regained morale and began trying to push forward once more. Meanwhile, the catapults began to fire, Large rocks rained down from the sky, and they crushed several zerglings with each impact.

The wyvern riders flew around the battlefield, picking off enemies bit by bit. They dived down and speared a zergling with their lance, before having the wyvern fly back up to escape the zerglings. Sometimes, the wyvern would nab a zergling in their claws as well and kill it. This tactic was not without risk; occasionally some zerglings would manage to pounce onto the wyvern before it could fly away. In those cases, the rider would usually be killed.

The greatest danger to the wyverns however, came from the hydralisks. The hydralisks launched volleys of spines which struck the wyverns even when they were high in the sky. More and more wyverns were being fatally wounded, causing them and their rider to fall to the ground and die. Though the zerg had not been able to bring any mutalisks with them through the gate, they didn't need air power of their own to deal with the wyverns. These puny flying lizards were far from a threat to the hydralisks.

To deal with the hydralisks, the cavalry was sent in to take them out. The Saderans were familiar with archers, and they rationalized the hydralisks as just being a different kind of archer, though one that could shoot further than their own archers, which were unable to hit the hydralisks accurately at these ranges. Even once they got closer, the arrows seemed to do little damage. So, the appropriate response was to send in a cavalry charge to destroy the hydralisks.

The sound of hooves thundered throughout the battlefield as a horde of knights clad in shining armor charged across the field. The sudden cavalry charge was quick and the horses were able to trample over the zerglings in their path. However, the sides of the charge was vulnerable and zerglings would often leap in and kill several horses along with the knights riding them. The knights in the front soon became the target of the hydralisks, who shifted their attention away from the wyverns. The knights in the front were dying, but the momentum of the charge kept it going and the lead riders were getting closer and closer to the hydralisks.

A row of the armored roaches soon moved in front of the hydralisks. When the cavalry slammed into the roaches, their charge stalled. They were unable to reach the hydralisks and now the cavalry was surrounded by enemies. At the front, the armored units of both sides were engaged in a vicious slog against each other. The knights struck at the heavily armored roaches with swords and spears, but the weapons were unable to pierce the carapace of the roaches. Though the knights found themselves to be of limited effectiveness against the roaches, the converse was not true. The roaches spewed out acid which ate through the armor of the knights and killed them. Zerglings dashed beneath them, ripping apart the legs of the horses and causing many knights to fall to the ground. Meanwhile, they were still being shot at by the hydralisks.

The foot soldiers on the other hand, were doing a bit better than the knights, though considering how well the knights were doing, it wasn't much of an accomplishment. The ordinary soldiers still found it difficult to deal with the zerglings, but the ogres that were with them were able to do some damage. Still, the ogres were not invincible, In one instance, an ogre was surrounded by zerglings who pounced on it and tore the ogre apart. In order to prevent this, the soldiers soon began guarding the ogres and preventing zerglings from crawling up the legs of the ogres, who were now free to bash their way through the zerg. The hydralisks shot some spines toward the ogres, but they were able to survive getting hit because of their great bulk.

Then, a great pressure fell over those on the battlefield. The source was an imposing figure standing on top of the hill. The Saderan army turned their gazes above and saw a vaguely feminine humanoid individual. Her body, like that of the zerg creatures below, was covered in bony carapace. Her hair was made up of thick tendrils and from her back rose up a pair of bone wings adorned with sharp blades. Her body seemed to emanate purple energy which flowed out in wisps as though the power within was so great that it couldn't be contained. For a moment, the soldiers were transfixed by this as their gazes focused on the zerg queen.

With a wave of her hand, Kerrigan unleashed a psionic blast which blew apart an ogre. Then, a psionic storm ripped through the left side of the army, killing hundreds of soldiers who could do nothing to resist the attack. Many of the Saderan soldiers were shocked into speechlessness by the power the zerg queen exhibited.

As the men once more began showing doubt, Senator Godasen shouted out toward the army and gave his new orders. "Kill the enemy mage", he shouted. "Kill her and the battle will be won!"

The senator had correctly guessed that Kerrigan was the one commanding the Swarm and that killing her would throw the zerg into chaos. He and the rest of the army had expected to be fighting disorganized beasts, but the zerg fought in formation and utilized tactics. It was clear that there had to be someone controlling them. At first he didn't know where the controller was, but now it seems the leader had conveniently revealed herself. The enemy seemed to be a powerful mage, one that was inhuman and monstrous. Godasen shuddered at the power the zerg queen displayed. While Godasen himself was a mage, he was rather weak and knew he stood no chance against the enemy. The power displayed by Kerrigan far outstripped anything he was capable of. Still, he hoped that the army would be able to overwhelm her. After all, she was only one person, he thought.

The catapults of the Saderan army shifted their targeting to aim at their new target. Heavy rocks soared through the air, and for a moment it seemed that the catapults could easily take care of this new threat quickly. However, to their surprise, the rocks suddenly froze in mid air, their momentum arrested by Kerrigan's telekinetic grip. Then, the rocks began falling back toward the catapults. The crews manning the catapults were shocked as they saw the projectiles heading back toward them, and they quickly began running away. Some made it, some didn't. The rocks crashed back down, crushing the catapults along with any unfortunate men who didn't manage to get away in time.

A group of wyvern riders dove down toward Kerrigan, who appeared completely unconcerned with this new group of attackers. A burst of psionic energy shot out of her hand, cutting through the wyverns. The wyverns, along with their riders, fell one by one as they died. The last wyvern was gripped telekinetically and dragged to the ground in front of Kerrigan where she killed it and its rider.

Though the wyvern riders had failed, the rest of the army was still trying to push forward to fight their way to the zerg queen's position. However, progress was slow as the zerg fought ferociously. Kerrigan's power was intimidating, and many of the soldiers were too frightened, thinking that they would end up the same way as the wyvern riders. Meanwhile, Kerrigan was raining down psionic attacks, blowing apart ogres and knights.

Seeing the soldiers falter, Godasen tried once more to bolster his soldiers' courage. Knowing that a mage was vulnerable in close range, he yelled out to his advice to the army. "Do not be afraid. As long as you get into close range, you will definitely be able to overwhelm the enemy mage. Don't let her power frighten you. March forward boldly!"

Immediately following his statement, an amused chuckle soon filled the air as Kerrigan's voice resonated throughout the battlefield. "Really now, do you think that I cannot fight in close range. Well then, I shall teach you all a lesson."

Kerrigan leapt off the the hill with great force. She soared through the air before landing amidst a group of soldiers. When she impacted the ground, a wave of force knocked away the nearby soldiers. Then, she turned a smirked before dashing toward the closest soldier.

The poor soldier didn't stand a chance. He was ripped in half by Kerrigan's wing and his body was thrown several meters, hitting several of his comrades. The soldiers around her froze in shock, before charging toward her. Kerrigan stepped forward, decapitating a trio of soldiers with a wing, and then turned to rip another soldier's guts out. One man got in close enough to swing his sword, but Kerrigan blocked it with her claw, which was able to slice through the sword. The man was still staring in shock at his broken sword when he got a talon through his neck.

Kerrigan was like a flurry of blades tearing through the battlefield. As men approached, they would instantly be cut to pieces. A hail of arrows rained down from the sky as the archers focused the entirety of their attention on the zerg queen. She didn't even bother to deflect or dodge the arrows, which were too weak to even hurt her. An ogre approached, but Kerrigan dashed forward faster than the ogre could even react and impaled the ogre with her wings, before tearing the large creature in half. She was an unstoppable force carving a swath throughout the battlefield, without anyone or anything seeming to be able to stop her. Soldiers she approached felt absolute terror and had abandoned any intention of fighting, instead turning to run away. However, even then they would be chased down and killed.

Senator Godasen watched the slaughter on the battlefield, and despaired. The last thoughts of resistance had fled from his mind and all that was left was terror. He got on his horse and began riding away as fast as possible. His guards, surprised by their leader's sudden departure, quickly followed him in retreat.

As the Queen of Blades reveled in slaughtering the Saderans, the army knew they were up against a monster, one that they could never be able to defeat. A few noticed the escape of the senator and his bodyguards and they turned around and ran as well. The soldiers next to them saw them running and followed. It was as though a switch had been turned and soon the army was in a full rout.

Kerrigan ordered her forces to attack and the zerglings began chasing down the fleeing army. She spotted a nearby soldier who was trying to scramble away. Suddenly, he found himself unable to move as he was lifted up into the air. Kerrigan walked up leisurely toward the man who found his attempted escape thwarted. As she approached, the man felt absolute terror. Despite trying with all his might, he was unable to escape the grip of the Queen of Blades. Every moment that passed increased his sense of dread as he saw his death approach. Finally, he found himself face to face with the zerg queen, who seemed to be gazing straight into his soul.

Kerrigan had decided to grab a soldier to interrogate in order to gain some more information about the land. Of course, she didn't need to rely on any crude interrogation tactics, it was trivial for her to simply rip the information out of the victim's mind. After taking all that she needed from the captive soldier's mind, she killed him, letting his body drop to the ground amidst a field of corpses running red with blood.

Now, she had the basic information about the land they were in. The gate had led to a continent called Falmart, which was dominated by the Saderan Empire. The empire was unchallenged in its hegemony, until now that is. It seemed the land was populated by various creatures, but humans were currently the dominant species. The Empire was a preindustrial society and is extremely primitive compared to the Terrans of the Koprulu Sector. The only thing of note was that there were also practitioners of magic, a fact that she noted as worthy of investigation.

After completing her information gathering, Kerrigan gazed out upon the area. The human army had been scattered and only scattered small groups were left, and they were currently running away as fast as possible. After the surviving soldiers had fled far away from Alnus Hill, the zerglings were recalled as the threat was no more now that the army had been thoroughly and utterly shattered.

The Swarm had no more immediate threats, and now it could focus on growth and exploration as it tightened its grip on the world.

* * *

 **We have gotten through the initial fighting portion; in the next chapter the zerg will start interacting with the world.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Alnus Hill was covered in corpses. Tens of thousands of soldiers had died in their futile attempt to assault the zerg hive cluster and their bodies formed a veritable carpet covering the slopes of the hill. In the distance, there were more corpses scattered haphazardly, the remains of those who were hunted down while fleeing.

Already, drones were moving in and cleaning up the battlefield, collecting the bodies to be broken down into biomass in order to expand the swarm's numbers. However, there were some corpses that were set aside for special treatment. Among them were the ogres and wyverns that had been a part of the assault.

An evolution chamber had been recently constructed and it was here that Abathur had settled down, ready to devote himself wholeheartedly toward the improvement of the Swarm. The escape through the gate had meant that they would no longer be able to go with the original plan of recollecting the various strains the Leviathan didn't have access to such as the ultralisk or brood lords. This would hamper their abilities to build heavy assault forces.

Although the escape through the gate had been a setback in some areas, it was also proving to be a fount of opportunity and limitless potential. They were in a new world, one with all kinds of new and interesting creatures. Abathur was elated. There was so much new essence to explore, new strains to discover, new opportunities for evolution. This planet was teeming with unique and interesting strains.

For example, there were the wyverns and ogres that Abathur was currently studying. He had several corpses in the evolution chamber and he was analyzing the essence of these fascinating creatures as he learned how they functioned. His mind was filled with ideas and he began experimenting, spinning new strains using the sample creatures as a template. Various traits were combined together, features would be added onto existing zerg strains, all combinations and possibilities were being tested.

Many of the newly created strains were complete failures and most of the rest were found to be suboptimal. Still, this was nothing unexpected for Abathur. The creation of new strains involved tireless experimentation and testing as new possibilities were tried. It was difficult to create something that was up to Abathur's standards, most of the time he would dissolve the failed test back into its essence to be reused. He was unaffected by repeated failures, knowing it to be nothing more than what is to be expected in the research process.

However, Abathur was not the Swarm's Evolution Master for nothing. It was rare to find a project which would manage to give him difficulty, and these creatures certainly weren't it. The ogres and wyverns hardly posed a challenge for Abathur. It wasn't long before he was able to create new strains from his study of the native organisms.

At this moment, Kerrigan entered the evolution chamber. "Abathur, what progress have you made in creating new strains for the Swarm?"

"Strains complete", replied Abathur. "New organism, named Ogrelisk. Is a large, bipedal assault creature. Well armored, better at inflicting blunt force damage than a ultralisk, but lacking in the large cleave possessed by ultralisks."

"I suppose that will have to do", Kerrigan replied. "We won't have ultralisks until we return to the Koprulu Sector, so we will have to rely on these ogrelisks for now. Is there anything else?"

"Creature wyvern possesses useful qualities. Outer scales tough while not impeding flight. Can help improve mutalisk armor. Will allow mutalisks to survive longer in battle. Gene sequences for mutalisks have been updated." Abathur concluded his report.

"Very well then, Abathur", Kerrigan said. "Tell me if you make any more progress."

"More specimens needed", Abathur said. "World contains many more creatures. Investigation suggested. Collection of specimens would greatly improve evolution. Important objective identified, individuals known to natives as 'magic' users seem to have interesting powers. Capturing of magic users recommended, preferably alive."

"I'll see what I can do", Kerrigan replied before leaving.

* * *

The zerg were beginning to scour throughout the countryside, all the while the hive cluster continued to grow. Exploration and expansion was the top concern for the Swarm at the moment now that immediate threats have been dealt with. There were several groups of zerg scouting the area surrounding Alnus Hill, but so far little was discovered.

The entire region was very rural, and had low population density so it was to be expected that the land would be mostly wilderness. Kerrigan had ordered the zerg to raid villages in order to find magic users, but it seemed they were quite rare as so far none have been found. The zerg attacked in a rather unconventional manner, as their main purpose was not to destroy the village. It was rather trivial for them to destroy a village as the zerglings could easily rush in and slaughter the villagers before they could even put up real resistance. However, doing so would not have been effective toward accomplishing their goal.

It was not entirely obvious who the magic users were, as they looked the same as normal people. The only way to tell if someone was a magic user was to see them use magic. As a result, a quick and efficient slaughter would not be conducive toward properly identifying the targets. Instead, the zerg would terrorize the villagers, going around killing a couple people, first killing the ones using swords and thus not likely to be magic users. They would also appear very threatening and the killing would generate large amounts of fear in the people. Then, they would slowly kill of their prey. The objective was to find someone who used unconventional powers for self defense. So far, they had not found any, so they had to continue searching.

A pack of zerg approached a small village in the forest. This village was unlike the others because it was on fire. It wasn't just a single house or two on fire, it was the entire village. The zerg force moved into the village to investigate the cause of the fire. Upon a cursory inspection, it seemed that everyone in the village was dead and whatever had caused the fire was gone.

As the scouting forces looked around, something was spotted in the sky. Upon closer inspection, it was found that it was a large flying animal, similar to the wyverns except much larger. The zerg quickly left the village and gave chase to the flying creature. The dragon was meandering around, burning down villages at random without much of a particular purpose. So, when it spotted the zerg chasing it, the dragon decided to attack the pursuers.

The dragon swooped down and let loose a massive stream of flame which burned up a group of zerglings. As the dragon flew back up, the hydralisks attempted to shoot at the dragon, but the spines did not seem to do much substantial damage to the dragon. Another dive from the dragon killed several hydralisks. The roaches tried to attack the dragon, as their acid might be able to eat through the dragon's scales, but the dragon was too high up for the roaches to hit.

Abathur, who had been monitoring the progress of the exploration teams, was greatly interested by this new find. "New organism discovered. Possesses great combat power and defensive capabilities. Collection of essence highly recommended."

The dragon began flying away, and it didn't seem like the ground forces could catch it. By now, the Swarm had produced a handful of mutalisks and these mutalisks were now sent to pursue the dragon, despite the mutalisks being few in number. The mutalisks were fast, and after some time they were able to catch up.

The mutalisks shot their glaive worms at the dragon, but the attacks bounced off the dragon's scales and only served to catch the dragon's attention. The dragon turned around and blasted a nearby mutalisk with a jet of flames. The mutalisk screeched as the flames burnt away at its body and melted it. The dragon caught another mutalisks in its claws and ripped it apart.

The remainder of the mutalisks began flying around the dragon, hoping to avoid its attacks. However, whenever a mutalisk tried to attack, the dragon would retaliate by ripping it apart with its claws, burning it to crisps, or crushing it in its teeth. The mutalisks were failing at fighting the dragon and finally they turned around and began escaping. The dragon caught one more fleeing mutalisk with its fire breath before deciding to abandon the chase.

"Creature escaped", reported Abathur. "Valuable essence. Must acquire. Recommend searching for the creature and hunting it down with greater forces."

Although this encounter had not succeeded, it was not a total failure. The zerg now knew of the existence of the flame dragon and had an idea of its capabilities. The next time it appeared, they would be ready. Killing the dragon was set aside as an auxiliary task, one that would be pursued in time. Meanwhile, the zerg returned to their task of searching the surrounding area.

* * *

Lelei La Lalena sighed as she finished her task of cleaning the books and putting them in order back on the bookshelf. She was a mage studying under the Sage Cato. They lived together in Coda Village, a small and quiet area where nothing of note happens. Despite appearing quite young, she is very intelligent and proficient in magic.

Suddenly, a loud disturbance was heard outside. Lelei went outside to see a man running toward their house. He appeared to be in great distress and was screaming.

"Monsters are attacking the village!" The warning shocked Lelei who after standing in silence for a moment, quickly went back inside to get her teacher.

"Cato, we have to leave", shouted Lelei. "We need to get out of here quickly! Some strange monsters are attacking the village and killing people."

"What?" Cato appeared bewildered by this news. "How is this possible? How dangerous are they? Where did they come from?"

"I don't know", replied Lelei, who was currently quite panicked. "They must be very dangerous, considering how scared that one villager who was running away was. We have to get out of here, get on the horses."

"I need to pack some books first", Cato said.

"There is no time for that", Lelei replied. "We have to get out of here, or else we might die. The beasts probably won't care about the books, and we can come back once they leave. I am sure we won't have to hide for long. Wandering packs of animals usually don't stay in one area for very long."

Despite Cato appearing somewhat reluctant, he was dragged to the horses and they quickly got on to ride away. They didn't manage to get very far, before a swarm of zerglings appeared from behind the trees.

The horses were startled and Lelei slipped off the side of her horse. She landed on the ground and it seemed that she bruised her side. Beside her, it seemed that Cato was not so lucky when he was thrown off his horse. Unfortunately, he landed head first and his frail body was unable to survive the impact.

However, Lelei didn't have a chance to process her teacher's death as the zerglings were now slowly approaching her menacingly. Lelei looked around and found that she was surrounded by strange and frightening creatures, and she was now without a horse to get away. She had never seen anything like the creatures in front of her before, and her first thought went toward wondering what they were. The creatures walked on four legs and had sharp claws and teeth. They were somewhat similar in size to a dog. The strangest thing was that they were all identical. While normal animals would all exhibit some variation, the creatures she was faced with all looked the same. Well, except for one of them which had a broken right horn. This amount of conformity definitely wasn't natural and Lelei's mind wandered to thinking about what could have made such a thing.

As the reality of her situation hit her, Lelei decided to fight back with a spell, hoping to at least take down some of the creatures. Her spell froze a portion of the zerglings, covering them with ice. Suddenly, the rest of the zerglings paused, halting their approach toward Lelei. Although she didn't know what caused this change in behavior, she decided to make the most of it as she quickly went to run past the frozen zerglings.

She had only made it a few steps away before she was once again being pursued. She desperately ran away from the zerglings, only to find them closing in as she was preparing another spell. Then, the ground in front of her shifted for a moment before a large creature popped out of the ground. Lelei crashed into the roach, her movement interrupted by the sudden obstacle appearing in front of her. Then, she was tackled from behind by the zerglings which pinned her to the ground. Lelei waited in fear for the creatures to finally kill her, but to her surprise it didn't happen.

She opened her eyes and looked around. There were a large number of creatures surrounding her, yet they made no movement to eat her. Lelei wondered what they were and what they were doing. It was already clear to her that these were no ordinary animals, and they were clearly intelligent. What they wanted with her was still a mystery, but it seems that she would not be their meal, at least for now. The way these creatures were gathered, it seems like they were waiting for something.

She waited. The creatures around her were silent and stayed in their positions. Lelei was on the ground, pinned by several of the creatures guarding her, and time continued to pass. Finally, a gap in the encirclement appeared and a large bulbous creature scuttled forth. The slug like creature approached Lelei and opened its mouth. Several tentacles emerged and dragged her in. Then, the mouth closed, and all she saw was darkness.

Lelei was trapped in the inside of this creature, but she didn't seem to be suffocating, nor suffering any ill effects although movement was restricted by the fleshy walls. She could feel that she was being transported somewhere, but to where she didn't know. She took this time to think about what was happening. The motivations of these creatures seemed unclear, but perhaps more would be known once they arrived at wherever they were taking her.

* * *

Abathur was pleased when he found out that a specimen had been captured. Finally, he would be able to begin his research. At the moment, an Infestor was transporting the captured specimen back to the hive cluster to be delivered to Abathur.

The Infestor was a strain that Abathur had first created in order to help him with his research. It was able to store specimens and keep them alive as they were transported long distances. Later on, the Infestor was given some additional utility by allowing it to infest captured humans on the spot, creating infested terrans which could be used on the battlefield. Of course, that particular function wasn't being used in this case. The Infestor had also been given the ability to use fungal growth, allowing it to support the zerg forces on the battlefield. However, the primary purpose of the Infestor was still to aid in infestation and the research of specimens.

The Infestor soon entered the evolution chamber. Its mouth opened and a small figure rolled out as Abathur and Kerrigan watched. Kerrigan had come to the evolution pit in order to examine "magic" personally. The human mage appeared to be a young girl with blue hair, a hair color not naturally found among terrans of the Koprulu Sector, but it seemed that exotic hair colors were quite common on this world.

Lelei was disoriented by her sudden expulsion from the insides of the Infestor, and upon emerging into the open again, she quickly gathered her bearings and looked around. She was in some kind of structure, but the construction style was unlike any she had seen before. The walls seemed to be… alive. The entire structure was a living thing. Lelei was astounded, and her mind was inundated with the thoughts of the implications of such a strange race, one composed of many different kinds of creatures which have specialized to such an extent and which all seemed to work together seamlessly.

Then, Lelei noticed the other figures in the room with her. There was an upright slug like creature with many long spindly arms. Next to it was an individual who looked much more human, though in appearance she resembled the other creatures. Still, she was the most human thing she had seen so far, and it seemed possible that they could communicate.

"What… are you?", Lelei asked in a stuttering voice.

Kerrigan gazed at Lelei. "I believe the proper question is, WHO am I. My name is Sarah Kerrigan, the Queen of Blades, and I am the ruler of the Zerg Swarm. Those that have brought you here are my minions. I control everything here, do you understand?"

Lelei looked up in both fear and awe at the powerful individual who controlled all of these creatures. "What do you want from me? And who is that?" Lelei pointed toward Abathur.

"That is Abathur", Kerrigan replied. "He is the Swarm's Evolution Master. His task is to work toward improving the Swarm, and this involves collecting specimens and performing research. As for what you will be doing, it is quite simple. You are going to be helping him with his research."

"Help with research?" Lelei felt somewhat relaxed at the familiarity of the situation. Then she realized that she was probably going to be the one being researched on rather than the researcher. "What do you want me to do?", asked Lelei with great apprehension.

"Well, Lelei La Lalena, your first task is to demonstrate your magic. You can target that wall over there." Kerrigan gestured toward the side of the evolution chamber, where a reinforced, regenerating structure had been constructed for testing purposes.

"How do you know my name?", Lelei asked, her eyes wide with surprise.

"I read your mind", replied Kerrigan casually. "Now, get on with it."

Lelei turned toward the target. For a moment, she thought about trying to escape, but then she realized that such an attempt would be discovered before she even started. She heard Kerrigan chuckle behind her.

Lelei focused herself on the task and prepared a fireball and fired it. The fireball hit the wall, dealing some moderate damage. Lelei turned around to see Kerrigan discussing with Abathur.

"I can detect that she is using psionic energy in some way to power her attacks. It is quite interesting as such usage hasn't been seen before", Kerrigan said. "Abathur, I want you to do some research and find the mechanism this "magic" uses."

"Will require more specimens", Abathur replied. "Need to dissect, compare internal structures. Examine essence."

Lelei shivered with fear at the implication that she was about to be dissected. She tried to run, only to find her body immobilized.

"Now now Lelei", chided Kerrigan with amusement. "Your job here isn't done yet. Abathur, do some more research into the usage of spells, and take some energy readings too. She will have to do until we find more specimens. Lelei, I expect your full… cooperation."

Lelei quickly nodded, desperately hoping to avoid dissection for as long as possible.

"Very good", Kerrigan said. Then, she turned to leave.

* * *

Lelei continued to work with Abathur in the research into magic. She would be asked to perform various spells and Abathur was intently measuring the energy flow. Sometimes, Abathur would ask Lelei to explain some magical theory. Since this world had already started studying magic, it might be a good place to start to get a better understanding into how magic works. Of course, it is entirely possible that what the humans thought was wrong, so the information was used as an advisory supplement.

The research into magic wasn't Abathur's only task, after all there were many different strains in the Swarm and there was always for work to do. Abathur would often tend to the various other experiments that he was running.

As Lelei watched Abathur work, she asked him a few questions. "What are you doing right now?", Lelei asked.

"Testing various zergling strains", Abathur replied. "Finding more optimal sequences. Work involves experimentation, testing, research."

"So you are a researcher?", asked Lelei.

"I am Swarm's Evolution Master. Research is one thing I do", Abathur answered.

"What is evolution?" Lelei was quite confused as she had heard this term used many times yet didn't know what it meant.

"Evolution is change", Abathur said. "All species change. Zerg change faster than others. Adaptability is our strength. We change to fit new situations, design ourselves to best complete our tasks. I facilitate evolution. Guide mutations in the right direction. Increase efficiency."

Lelei found the zerg to be fascinating. Though she spent all day in the evolution pit, she came across all kinds of interesting creatures. The diversity of the zerg amazed her and she was always interested in learning more about them.

There was one question regarding the zerg that had always been on her mind and finally she asked Abathur. "How are the zerg organized?", Lelei asked. "I don't ever see you giving orders to the various creatures around the evolution pit. All of you must be connected somehow, but the method is unknown to me."

"The Swarm is one", Abathur declared proudly. "All creatures in the Swarm are connected to the hivemind by a psionic link. We act as one, perfectly united, led by the queen."

"Can you tell me more about the queen?", Lelei asked. "She seems to resemble a human, much more so than any of the other zerg."

"The queen was originally a human", Abathur said. "The first Overmind brought her into the Swarm."

"Overmind? What is the Overmind?", Lelei asked.

"The Overmind was the original leader of the zerg. Brought the Swarm to greatness. Created me. The Overmind died during the invasion of Aiur. After his death, our current queen took control of the Swarm by defeating the second Overmind."

"I see." Lelei pondered for a few moments. "So the queen was originally a human? Does that mean that you can turn humans into zerg?"

"Process known as infestation", answered Abathur. "Virus used to change human into infested terran. Useful for creating easily disposable minions. Infested terrans do not retain their intelligence. The queen is a special case. Her infestation was carefully designed to produce an independent entity. Process is much more complex than ordinary infestation. Ordinary infested terrans are ordinary zerg minions, can only follow orders."

"You don't seem to be a mindless minion though, do only certain types of zerg follow orders?", Lelei inquired.

"Most zerg are suited only for simple roles", Abathur said. "Organism Abathur is unique. Created by first Overmind to guide Swarm's evolution. Some individuals in the Swarm have independent thought, can act without explicit guidance. However, all serve the Swarm loyally. That is how we are united."

"So there is only one of you?" Lelei wondered whether there were more Abathurs out there.

"Organism Abathur is one of a kind", Abathur said. "I am Swarm's Evolution Master. I am the best suited for enhancing evolution. There is no need for other researchers in the Swarm because I am the expert in evolution and have the most experience."

Lelei looked pensive. Then she spoke. "However, you don't seem to know very much about magic."

Abathur was silent for a few seconds before answering. "Organism Abathur focuses primarily on physical evolution. Has rarely done work with psionics, except in instances such as with the creation of broodmothers. The psionic users of this world use their powers very differently. Is completely new to me. That is why I must learn."

"Well… what if there was someone who could help?", Lelei said. "I want to join the Swarm."

Abathur was silent, surprised by what the human girl in front of him just said. Abathur informed Kerrigan, who came to the evolution chamber to deal with this surprising development.

When Kerrigan entered the evolution chamber, Lelei spoke. "I want to join the Swarm."

Kerrigan looked at Lelei, studying her for a few moments. "And why should I care?"

"I can help research magic", Lelei said. "Abathur would do better if he focused solely on evolution. It would be more efficient." Lelei had a smile on her face. "I want to learn more, and I am very good at learning. I also think the zerg are very interesting and it would be a good opportunity to learn more about them." Lelei paused, before adding one last comment. "Also, I can't exactly go anywhere else."

Kerrigan hadn't expected to find someone so willing to undergo infestation. After thinking about it, she decided that it would be beneficial to have someone to do research into psionics and she might as well see whether Lelei can do the job.

"Are you prepared to become a part of the Swarm", Kerrigan asked.

"I am", replied Lelei.

"You understand that once you are part of the Swarm, you will be a part of the Swarm forever", Kerrigan said.

"I do", replied Lelei.

"You will never be able to be a part of humanity again. You will never be able to go back to your people", Kerrigan said.

"I understand", replied Lelei.

"Are you prepared to go all the way with this, Lelei", asked Kerrigan.

"Yes", answered Lelei. "Yes I am prepared to go all the way, my queen."

"Excellent." Kerrigan turned to Abathur. "Get Lelei ready for infestation."

"Will take time", Abathur said. "To ensure a proper infestation with the retention of will, requires work. Must be tailored toward subject. In addition, magic is a complicating factor. More research and specimens needed to ensure proper understanding of the psionic energies used. Preserving powers during infestation is a delicate task."

"Very well Abathur", Kerrigan said. "Take all the time you need. I want this to be perfect. No mistakes will be tolerated."


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

As news of the devastating defeat at Alnus Hill reached the capital, the Imperial Senate was in uproar. At first, no one could believe what had happened, it was unthinkable that their army would be defeated so badly. But as more reports came in, the truth became undeniable.

"This is an absolute catastrophe", Marquis Casel declared to the Senate. "Tens of thousands of our men were lost. And to what? Beasts! Alnus Hill has been lost and the creatures from beyond the gate have entrenched themselves on our soil. Your Majesty, how will you guide the state through this disaster."

Emperor Molt Sol Augustus gazed out over the Senate. "Some might say that the faith in our Empire has been shaken. Some might call us weak. Already, there are whispers of doubt within our very capital. They say that we can no longer defend ourselves, that our vassals will revolt against the Empire. The Imperial Capital itself might be destroyed."

Murmurs spread throughout the chamber. The Emperor's words were shocking.

The Emperor paused, letting all of this sink in. "How pathetic. The Empire is the strongest nation in the world and time and time again we have overcome all the obstacles before us. In times of struggle, the Emperor, the Senate, and the people will become one and our power will only grow stronger. It is our unity, our determination, our unshakeable will that defines us. There is no one that can stand against the full united strength of the Empire. No war is one without loss. It is through struggle that we achieve greatness. It is our losses that make us stronger. Therefore, no blame shall be assigned for this incident."

The Senate burst into a flurry of activity. The Emperor's words had inspired patriotic sentiment in some, and already there were people clamoring for action. "We need to mobilize all of our forces", one Senator said. "Show these animals the power of the Empire and drive them back through the gate. No one can oppose the Empire and get away with it!"

As cheers of approval sounded all around the Senate chamber, one man hobbled down to address the Senate. It was Senator Godasen, the one who had led that disastrous expedition. Even before he began speaking, he received jeers and looks of condescension as he was mocked by his fellow senators for being the cause of the failure.

"These are no mere beasts", Godasen cried out. "They are far worse than you could ever imagine. They are the creatures of nightmares, seeming to be demons that have come from the depths of hell. The horror was unimaginable. The tide of creatures was unstoppable, there was nothing that can be done!" Godasen broke down in hysterics.

One senator stood, sneering at Godasen. "Well, I suppose we learned one thing from this. We should send someone with greater… mental fortitude. It seems that our poor colleague here couldn't handle the stress." His voice was dripping with condescension. "Or maybe the creatures were simply too 'scary' for him. Now, wherever shall we find someone for the task? Who here isn't scared of monsters?"

The room was filled with raised hands. "Perfect, as you can see there are plenty of candidates. And it is for certain that our brave soldiers shall not shy away from fighting creatures. If only the leader wasn't so craven as to flee the battlefield, we could have won without a doubt. The army must be led by someone with great confidence and valor, not some whimpering fool."

"You don't understand", screeched Godasen. "You weren't there, you didn't see what they were like. It was a horrific slaughter. And they were not mindless, unorganized beasts. They were controlled by a powerful mage capable of destroying our army. There is no opposing such power."

The Senate was filled with discussion once again. The news that an enemy mage was controlling those creatures made the situation quite a bit more difficult. Still, few were fazed by this. "Then we shall send our own mages", a senator declared. "Though those aloof old men in Rondel won't obey us, our armies have scores of combat mages. We can crush this upstart mage without a problem. Even though this enemy mage has taken over a pack of creatures, they will be no match for the valor and strength of the Imperial Army which is fighting for their homes!"

Applause filled the room and soon ideas were being tossed around for different strategies to defeat the creatures. Several senators questioned Godasen about the creatures and their capabilities, in order to get a better understanding. However, they thought that Godasen was exaggerating the power of these creatures, in an effort to frighten the senators so they didn't launch an expedition that would expose Godasen as an incompetent coward who couldn't defeat a bunch of rabble.

Finally, the emperor, who had been listening in to the debate, raised his hand to call for silence. He had made a decision. "We shall send delegates to our tributaries and call for an united expedition to defend the continent from these invaders from another world. It will be a war to defend humanity and we will lead it!"

The Senate erupted into cheers. "Glory to the Empire! Glory to His Majesty! Victory! Victory!"

The Emperor smiled.

* * *

After the Senate meeting, the Emperor met in private with the commander of the army to lead the expedition to Alnus Hill. Here, he would give several secret orders.

"The senators are fools", the Emperor said. "They believe that victory will be easily achieved. They are blinded by their fantasies and cannot see reality. For an army to be wiped out so easily, it cannot just be a result of bad leadership and insufficient numbers. No, these creatures are not so simple as we might think. Therefore, we must have plans for all eventualities."

The Emperor turned to the man in front of him. "Therefore, you shall be tasked with preserving the Empire's strength should the worst come. You shall keep your forces away from combat, and you will retreat."

"And what of the allied armies?", the commander asked.

"They shall die", the Emperor said. "With the destruction of their armies, our vassal states will not be able to rebel against us."

"You are truly a genius", the commander proclaimed. "Such great insight and planning is unparalleled. Our Empire is in safe hands with you as our Emperor."

The Emperor smiled. "Furthermore, after retreating you must engage in a scorched earth campaign. Destroy the land and its people. Leave nothing but ruins. Any invading army will rely on foraging to feed itself, and with animals it will be even more necessary. It is unlikely that they carry much food, so with the land stripped bare there will be nothing for them to eat. We shall starve this pack of beasts and once they have been weakened, we shall strike to wipe them out in one blow."

"As you command, Your Majesty."

* * *

The allied armies marched toward Alnus Hill. They were called on an expedition to defend the continent from invaders. It was their sacred duty to protect Holy Alnus Hill from invaders and no country shied away from this obligation. Together, their army numbered 300,000. As information from the Empire had stated that there were a few thousand creatures that had come through the gate, the army felt supremely confident in its ability to triumph. Already, many of them were treating this military expedition as a way to earn glory and show the superiority of humanity over all other races.

The army encamped for the night, and the next day they would finally reach Alnus Hill. The various kings of the allied kingdoms gathered to discuss their plan for the assault. One king spoke up. "Tomorrow, we will fight a glorious battle to defend this land from these beasts from beyond the gate. There is no doubt that with the combined might of the continent, we will find victory. This expedition is our sacred duty and we will be fighting in the defense of all humans. We are the dominant race of this world and we will not fall to mere animals."

The King of Alguna stood up. "My army shall lead the charge. We can single handedly defeat these invaders!"

"My army will be in the front as well", another king shouted.

"No, I will lead the charge!", yet another person shouted.

Soon, the tent erupted into a fierce debate into who would have the honor of leading the attack against these invaders. Meanwhile, King Duran slumped into his seat. Something didn't seem right. Why would the Empire call them for a routine extermination? If it was just to show off the Empire's strength and to show these strange creatures to the world, uniting everyone against an inhuman foe, then it could be done simply by having the kings attend as observers. There would be no need for such a massive force. Though King Duran had some misgivings, it seemed that everyone else has no doubts in their minds and were enthusiastic for the battle. He only hoped that it wouldn't end in disaster.

* * *

The next morning, the army marched. It was an impressive sight, lines of cavalry and rows upon rows of infantry marched for as far as the eye could see. Flocks of wyverns flew overhead. It was a mighty force, at least for the standards of this world. A casual observer would believe, as the soldiers in the army idd, that this force was unstoppable and that it would be able to overcome any obstacle.

However, King Duran couldn't shake his feeling of apprehension. Since he did not fight to be in the front of the army, like many of the other kings and lords had, he was in the very back. Others had mocked him for his caution, and those very people were now the ones charging forward toward Alnus Hill without a single care.

The army was close enough to see the fleshy structures in the distance, and the ground they were walking on was covered in some purple slimy substance. It was absolutely revolting. The disgust of the soldiers was clear as they marched eagerly to slay these beasts. The enemy was already in sight, and it didn't seem like there were very many of them. The wyvern scouts had counted a few thousand of them during their inspection.

As the army was beginning to advance up the hill, the ground beneath them trembled. The soldiers looked around in confusion. Suddenly, the ground seemingly erupted as the zerg appeared from below the ground. The zerg armies had been burrowed underground and after the human soldiers had walked into the trap, the zerg unburrowed, revealing their army. The human army was completely surrounded and zerg were interspersed throughout their forces.

Chaos broke loose as the zerg struck. The training of the soldiers failed them here. They were used to fighting in formations, but now each man was surrounded and had to fend for himself. There was nowhere to run. Zerg covered the land for as far as the eye can see. The entire army had been thrown into a battle they were utterly unprepared for.

Men screamed as zerglings tore at them from every angle. Hydralisks rained their spines down from up above. Soldiers would die without even knowing why. Sometimes they were dismembered by a zergling leaping at them from the back, other times hydralisk spines from a long distance away would pierce through them. Their resistance was utterly futile and fighting often consisted of swinging their sword around madly, hoping to catch a zergling in the eye.

The cavalry, supposedly the most elite branch of the army, was utterly ineffective. They didn't even manage to make a single charge. Instead, most of the knights had gotten thrown off by the panicked horses, causing them to die after hitting the ground. Even those who survived the fall didn't live very long as they were torn apart by zerglings.

The ogres found themselves surrounded by roaches. The acid of the roaches quickly melted through the ogres' armor and skin, killing them. The flailing attacks of the dying ogres failed to damage the roaches. Though the Empire had lost their toughest forces, the zerg were just getting started. A horde of Ogrelisks emerged from the top of the hill and began charging downwards.

Above the battlefield, the wyvern riders were in a state of total shock. Even though the sudden attack from the burrowed zerg didn't hit them directly, they were still astonished to find the army suddenly thrown into battle. Even as some of the wyvern riders tried to help out their comrades on the ground, they were soon confronted with a threat of their own.

From the towering spires atop Alnus Hill soon emerged swarms of mutalisks which flew down to attack the wyvern riders. The wyvern riders flew forward, hoping to slice apart the mutalisks with their swords. However, the barrage of glaive worms sliced through the wyverns before they could even get near. The glaives bounced from one wyvern to another, and soon wyvern corpses began falling to the ground. Even when a lucky wyvern rider managed to actually slash at a passing mutalisk, it didn't manage to do any damage.

Meanwhile, the army on the ground was in a state of total chaos. Nobody knew what they were doing and there was no leadership taking charge. King Duran looked on in horror as the army disintegrated around him. "Where are the mages?", he called out, trying to find a single hope to cling on to.

"Sir, the group of mages we brought along was ambushed during the initial attack", a soldier reported. "Several said they saw them being swallowed by some of the creatures. It seems that they were not able to prepare their spells before being attacked."

"Gods…" Duran despaired. Already he could see the rest of the army being devoured and it was clear that he would die within moments as well. As the last of his loyal soldiers gathered around him, Duran grabbed a bow, determined to at least get a single shot off. He hoped that if he managed to hit one in the eye, he might even get a single kill. Merely doing so would satisfy him for the remainder of his short life.

The battlefield was already beginning to fall silent as the last pockets of resistance were snuffed out by the zerg. As Duran gazed out, he saw nothing but endless hordes of terrifying creatures filling the land. Then, he saw a figure approaching, a female that seemed to be the mix of human and monster. Duran realized that it was probably the strange mage that they had been informed about. The remainder of his men ran away at this sight, only for them to die without being able to take more than a few steps.

Duran shot his arrow toward Kerrigan, with a faint hope that by killing the leader, the rest might disperse. The arrow froze in midair before dropping to the ground. Kerrigan chuckled in amusement. With seemingly lightning fast movement, she appeared in front of him, killing his guards that were in the way. Kerrigan gazed down at him, looking through his mind.

Kerrigan paused, seeing something that greatly amused her. She spoke to King Duran. "How very interesting… You know, I once had a subordinate with the same name as you. I still do wonder where he went. Though, it is clear you are not him. Duran… It brings back memories", she said before tossing him away.

Then Duran, King of Elbe, died.

* * *

While the allied armies were fighting near Alnus Hill, the Imperial forces were already far away, content to let their "allies" do the dying. The army was sacking villages, leaving a trail of devastation in its wake. The commander felt that the creatures occupying Alnus Hill would be distracted for at least a little while by the attack, so he took this chance to leave.

Unfortunately, the zerg had spotted this band of soldiers near them. Although the army had already moved quite far away from Alnus, and clearly weren't planning on threatening it, the zerg had the time to remove such a trivial threat. A small zerg force was sent, sufficient to shatter the army and end its ability to be an effective fighting force.

As the zerg approached, the commander of the Imperial army was shocked to hear his scouts report that the strange creatures were attacking them. He quickly began organizing his army which turned to face the incoming zerg.

The army of 100,000 Imperial soldiers faced the zerg, but it was the soldiers who felt fear. After all, they knew that the rest of the army had been fighting these creatures. If the allied armies had fallen so quickly, what chance did they have? Their fears were only confirmed as the zerglings began tearing through the ranks of soldiers.

As panic spread through the army, the commander tried desperately to keep order, but his words fell on deaf ears. Around him, men were fleeing, unwilling to stand against these monsters that had eaten their way through their comrades. There wasn't even an army left. It was more like a stampede of frightened people.

The zerg began tearing apart the slower soldiers in the back. As the zerg leisurely devoured the fleeing humans, the commander tried to rally the men around him for one final stand. They stood, but that was just about all they did. Once the zerg got to them, they became nothing more than food. The mouth of a zergling was the last thing the commander saw as he died, cursing the foolishness of the emperor.

* * *

Rory Mercury looked out into the distance. She could sense a great disturbance near Alnus Hill. There was a deluge of death and slaughter. With such great concentration of violence and death, she could feel it even from a distance. It was calling to her and Rory knew that there would be something significant happening there.

Her interest was piqued. She had already spent far too much time staying here, and it was time to move onto somewhere more interesting. Alnus Hill… That would be her next destination.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

The hive cluster had begun a burst of activity after the recent battle. The allied armies had proven to be completely insignificant in the face of the zerg swarm. The battlefield was covered in corpses, which the zerg drones began collecting to be converted into biomass. Moreover, the Swarm was now completely confident in its domination of the planet, as the strongest force the locals managed to muster was completely defeated. By now, the Swarm had expanded to such a point that no conventional military force available to the local humans would stand a chance against the zerg.

Still, there was a far greater prize that the Swarm collected during the battle. The Empire had chosen to send a sizable division of mages as an experiment to see whether they would be able to defeat the zerg. However, before the battle the army had been infiltrated by changelings which provided information on the army's position and composition. As a result, when the battle began the mages were targeted by the infestors, which quickly swallowed them up in the initial confusion. This meant that the zerg had managed to acquire a large number of samples.

Abathur had quickly gotten to work, now that he had sufficient materials. His current task was to craft a zerg hyperevolutionary virus in order to infest Lelei. These newly delivered test subjects would be very helpful in allowing Abathur to observe the effects of the virus and make changes as needed. It had taken a few tries, but eventually Abathur was able to finish modifying the virus so that it could be safely used on Lelei.

However, before Lelei was to undergo infestation, she went to talk to Abathur as she had a few requests.

"Hello Abathur", Lelei said.

Abathur was silent, as he continued his work, not seeing any need to respond to this strange terran custom known as a "greeting".

"So… I had a few requests for how I want my transformation to go", Lelei said.

"Your input, unnecessary", Abathur replied. "I am an expert in infestation. Will make your infestation as optimal as possible."

Lelei sighed. "But I am talking about other things. Not everything has to deal solely with optimizing the body."

Abathur was unperturbed. "Other factors, irrelevant."

"But I care about them", Lelei huffed. "It is just a few small changes."

"Be more efficient with communication", Abathur said. "State your request clearly and succinctly."

Lelei began explaining what she wanted. "There are a lot of things I am not satisfied with about my current body. Everyone always treats me like a kid, but I am 16. I am a big girl. However, because of my diminutive size, people think I am a little kid. I want to be taller. Oh, and I want some heels too. I think the queen looks pretty nice in them; I would like to have some too. Also, can you make my breasts bigger?" Lelei paused before speaking in a quiet voice. "I have never told anyone this, but I am annoyed by how other girls have bigger breasts than me. People always pay more attention to my sister rather than me. That pervert Cato always joked about much curvier my sister is."

Abathur quickly rejected her requests. "Changes unnecessary. Serves no purpose. Does not increase combat utility, in fact it runs contrary to efficient design."

"But Abathur", Lelei pouted. "I really want it."

"Combat effectiveness is only concern", Abathur said. "No need to consider extraneous requests."

"You aren't suited for fighting, Abathur", Lelei countered.

"My purpose is not to fight. My form is perfectly suited for my job", Abathur responded.

"I am not a fighter either", Lelei said. "My job will be to do research, just like you. And those modifications won't affect my job."

"That is true", Abathur said slowly. "Still see no purpose. No reason to accept request."

"But our queen has all of those traits, and she is supposed to be a fighter", Lelei said. "There is no reason why I can't be like that too."

"Our queen is a special case", Abathur said. "Organism Abathur was not responsible for her current design. When she originally emerged from the Chrysalis when the Overmind infested her, she was designed optimally. Was efficient, perfectly designed for combat. Lacked extraneous features. However, after the Brood War she decided to change herself. Went against wishes of organism Abathur. She spoke of how she was powerful enough to ignore such trivialities. Felt that her pride was more important, supposedly wanted to show dominance. Her words were, 'I am the Queen Bitch of the universe, I can do whatever I want. I am strong enough to crush any opposition regardless.' Organism Abathur does not understand. However, the queen's command is absolute. Abathur must obey."

Lelei stood silently while Abathur ranted. Then, she replied, "So, that is precedent for what I want now. There is no reason to deny my request."

"Unacceptable", Abathur said. "No modification necessary. Serves no purpose. Inefficient."

"Why can't you just do it, Abathur?", Lelei asked. "It is just a small change."

"Unnecessary", replied Abathur curtly.

"But Abathur!", Lelei wailed. "I really want it. Don't you know that confidence is very important. This will help boost my confidence."

"Feelings irrelevant". Abathur brushed her off.

Lelei huffed. "I am not going to leave until you agree."

Then, Kerrigan walked around the corner and came upon Lelei and Abathur. "Well, it seems you two are having some kind of a disagreement. What is it?"

Lelei, very enthusiastic just a minute ago, now seemed subdued as she gazed up toward the queen of the swarm. She gulped, not expecting for this matter to suddenly make it all the way to the top. Now, she wasn't sure how she should phrase her request."

However, Abathur responded promptly. "Organism Lelei requested I make changes to her infested form. Changes unnecessary."

"Oh? What was it that you wanted, Lelei?", Kerrigan asked.

"Well…" Lelei shuffled awkwardly. "It is just that I am dissatisfied with my current appearance. I want to be taller and have heels like you." Lelei paused before squeaking, "and I want bigger breasts."

Kerrigan seemed amused as she looked Lelei up and down. Meanwhile, Lelei was nervous, not knowing what was going to be the result.

"Very well", Kerrigan replied after a few moments. "Abathur, give her what she wants."

"Modifications unnecessary", Abathur said. "Serves no purpose."

"Just do it Abathur", Kerrigan said.

"As you wish", Abathur replied. "Your will shall be done, Organism Abathur's opinions are irrelevant." Abathur continued to mumble about "terran aesthetics" and how it made no sense. "Completely incomprehensible", Abathur grumbled. "Cannot see why terrans find such things visually appealing."

Kerrigan and Lelei sighed. It seemed that this particular topic would be something that they would never be able to explain to Abathur.

Then, Lelei turned to Kerrigan to ask a question. "Is there anything else about infestation that I should know?", asked Lelei. "Is it painful?"

"It is quite painful", Kerrigan responded. "I would know, I went through it twice."

"Oh." Lelei seemed a bit off put. "Abathur, could you make it so I don't feel any pain during the procedure?"

"It is possible", Abathur replied. Then, he fell silent.

Lelei waited, before realizing Abathur wasn't going to say anymore. "Will you do it?"

"No", Abathur said. "Pain irrelevant."

"No Abathur, it's not irrelevant", Lelei said, frustrated. "I would like you to modify the procedure so that I don't feel pain during it."

"Not recommended", Abathur said. "Would make infestation take longer. Inefficient."

"How much longer, Abathur?", Lelei inquired.

Abathur was silent for a few moments before he finally spoke. "A few seconds."

Lelei gave Abathur an annoyed look. "Are you serious? You won't do it even if it only costs a few seconds?"

"Inefficient." That is all Abathur said.

"It is worth the cost of a few seconds", Lelei said. "Do it Abathur."

"As you command", Abathur replied since he had been ordered to listen to Lelei's instructions. The two of them soon finished discussing the specifics of what Lelei's new appearance was to be.

* * *

Finally, they were ready.

Lelei went outside to where Abathur had prepared a large fleshy structure which Lelei was instructed to enter. After Lelei stepped into it, a the walls of the Chrysalis began to grow around her. Once the Chrysalis was sealed, it began filling with fluid. Lelei watched as the fluid began to surround her. Then, she saw nothing but darkness as she fell into unconsciousness.

The Chrysalis had formed perfectly and soon the process of infestation began. Lelei's body began shifting as her flesh morphed under the influence of the zerg virus. Slowly but surely, her body changed, becoming less and less human, and more and more zerg. The virus had infiltrated her very cells as the virus integrated itself and changed Lelei's genome.

The entire hive cluster was on alert during this long process to make sure that there wouldn't be any disruptions from outside attackers, though Kerrigan didn't expect any. Still, it was best to be cautious. Fortunately, Lelei's infestation continued uninterrupted as the Chrysalis began to mature and the infestation entered its final stages.

Finally, Lelei awoke, her infestation complete. Her eyes opened to see herself surrounded in yellow fluid, illuminated by the light coming through the translucent shell of the Chrysalis. Lelei pushed forward, using the claws on her hand to tear through the now thinning outer membrane of the Chrysalis. The Chrysalis began to crack as Lelei's claws forced their way through the opening. After one final push from Lelei, the Chrysalis broke open.

Lelei walked out of the Chrysalis, basking in the glory of her new form. Her body was covered with carapace, with the thickest portions surrounding her chest, abdomen, and limbs. Her legs ended in a sharp, pointed feet supported by heels. She was much taller than she was as a human, as she had planned. Her body was also well endowed, though not ridiculously so. Her back was bare, lacking the wings that Kerrigan possessed.

Lelei looked down, admiring her new form as she stroked her hair, which unlike Kerrigan's was composed of thinner, more cord like strands which reached just below her shoulders. Her hair was tinted a light blue, reminiscent of her previous hair color. While Kerrigan had a purple motif, Lelei's color was light blue. Small veins of light blue energy ran along her body, emanating psionic energy. Her eyes were luminescent, shining with the same light blue light.

Lelei felt filled with power as her body now contained far more energy than she ever had access to as a human. She could feel the power rush through her body, and she felt exhilarated. She no longer needed primitive instruments like staves or wands to use her abilities. Clenching her fists, Lelei let out a roar directed toward the sky as a wave of energy flowed out from her.

Finally, Lelei approached Kerrigan, who was watching on the side. Lelei knelt before Kerrigan and bowed her head. "I live you serve you, my queen. Your will shall be my duty and all that I do shall be in service to you."

"Arise Lelei", Kerrigan spoke. "From this day forward you are one with us. You shall serve the Swarm unfailingly."

"What is your command, my queen?", Lelei asked as she stood.

"Your task will be to research psionic energy and its use", Kerrigan said. "Your job is to work toward improving the Swarm, much like Abathur is and you are to collaborate with him on the tasks that require both your expertise."

"Very well", Lelei replied. "I shall begin immediately."

* * *

Around a fire sat a small group of people. They could be considered both fortunate and unfortunate. They were unfortunate in that the Imperial Army group they had been a part of was butchered by the zerg, and fortunate in that they at least were part of the few survivors that escaped

Their fight with the zerg had been a one sided massacre. The army had been unprepared for the attack as they hadn't been close to Alnus Hill, pillaging villages under the orders of their commander. When the attack struck, most have fled. The men here survived not because they were stronger than the zerg but rather because they were faster than their comrades.

Over the next few days, lone groups of survivors were linking up. This group had met each other just a day ago, and now they were discussing their harrowing experience.

"So what are we going to do now", one man said. "Those creatures massacred us. There is no way I am going back to the army."

The man next to him snorted. "It's not like they would let us back in anyways. You know how they treat deserters. We can never go back home."

"Then what options do we have", a third man wailed. "Is there anything left that we can do? Are we just going to die out here?"

The second man spoke again. "Don't be so gloomy, I am sure there are things we can do. After all, we are strong enough to beat up random villagers. We can live as bandits, living life to its fullest while we still can."

"I heard a rumor that there is a bandit army forming up", someone added. "Maybe we can join them."

"I don't know. There is safety in numbers, but we will also have to share the loot. If we stick to ourselves, we can be our own bosses."

"Yeah, that sounds good to me. If we join up with a larger group, we might end up becoming the disposable fodder. I am pretty sure none of us here want to have the 'honor' of being part of the 'glorious vanguard'. I would much rather be alive, thank you very much."

"Surely even a city couldn't stand up against a bandit army", someone replied. "All of the trained soldiers were taken away to fight against those creatures, those cities are virtually defenseless."

"Yeah, but they will always be able to scrounge up a few swords and spears. Getting through the city walls will always be a difficult task, even against untrained rabble. Sure, we will be able to do it easily, but the first few men are going to have a very bad time. I have had enough of commanders sending me to my death."

Everyone nodded in agreement.

"That settles it then. Our bandit group will go after the easy pickings. No need to work so hard for something by breaking into forts or whatnot when you can get it so easily raiding villages", the now bandit leader spoke.

Suddenly, the discussion was interrupted by the sound of laughter coming from the shadows. The bandits turned toward the source of the sound and saw a small figure step into the light. The newcomer seemed to be a little girl, but such an identification would be grossly inaccurate. In her hands was a large halberd. Its edge gleamed from the light coming from the fire.

"I couldn't help but overhear your conversation", Rory drawled. "And I would like for you to answer my questions."

The bandits' eyes widened in shock. "Shit. It's an apostle. We don't stand a chance against her."

"What would you like to know?", one bandit asked while prostrating on the ground.

"Tell me about these creatures you fought", Rory commanded.

"They were terrifying", the bandit replied while shivering. "The beasts tore through our army with their sharp claws. I only saw them from a distance, so I don't know any more."

"They were too strong", another bandit added. "No one could beat them. We could only run."

Rory sighed. "Pathetic."

"W-What?!", a bandit said, startled.

"I said you are all pathetic", Rory said, coldly. "What I see here are the men too cowardly to fight an enemy in front of them. Instead, you all decide to become bandits to raid villages, too scared to even assault a town with the rest of the bandits. That makes you all even lower than the rest of the bandits. Weak, insignificant trash."

The bandits shuddered in fear, and a few began to try to get up and escape.

"Thank you for your help tonight." Rory licked her lips. "And allow yourselves to be of help once again for giving your lives. The Dark God now requests your presence as you give your souls to him."

By this point, the bandits were in full blown panic as they tried to get away from the apostle as fast as they could. However, their best efforts weren't enough. Rory's halberd slashed forward so quickly, it looked to the bandits as though it was a flash of light. The fleeing bandits died one by one, their bodies cut open by Rory as she cackled maniacally.

The last bandit trying to escape realized that trying to escape was impossible and somehow he gathered up the courage to pick up a sword and turn to face Rory. When Rory reached the man, she paused, amused with his actions.

"Hmmm…. So one man actually has the nerve to fight." Rory smiled. "I like you. Tell you what, I'll give you a chance to entertain me."

Rory stuck her weapon into the ground and turned to face the man with nothing in her hands. "Come now, attack me. Lets see how well you do."

The man, somewhat emboldened by his opponent being unarmed, charge forward. Rory stepped to the side leisurely as the sword sailed past her.

"Come on now, you have to do better than that", Rory said with a little laugh.

The man gritted his teeth in anger before slashing forward again. Rory laughed as she dodged every one of the man's attacks before finally she stepped forward when he overextended. Rory grabbed the man's arm and broke it. The man screamed in pain and dropped the sword. Then, Rory punched the man's skull, caving it in immediately.

The clearing was silent. There was no sign of movement anywhere. However, Rory picked up her halberd and walked toward a large rock. Then, she slammed the halberd down, cutting the rock in two, revealing a frightened man hiding behind it.

The hiding bandit screamed in terror. Rory smiled. "You thought I didn't see you hide behind that rock, didn't you? You thought you could survive by hiding? How laughable."

The last bandit was huddled on the ground, begging for mercy.

"P-Please…", the man stuttered. "Don't kill me. I'll do anything. Anything you want."

Rory smiled. "What I want… Is for you to die." Rory's halberd swung down.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Rory Mercury strode through the field, her halberd hefted over her shoulder, as she went toward Alnus Hill, where the strange creatures were supposedly coming from. In the distance she saw the land change, no longer covered in lush vegetation, but instead covered in something else.

Her pace quickened as she went to investigate the anomaly. Once she finally got there, she found that the area near Alnus Hill was covered in a strange, purple, gooey substance. She picked some up before reeling in revulsion and tossing the disgusting substance away. It was clear that whatever strange creatures were occupying the hill were responsible for spreading this revolting slime over the ground.

Rory moved forward, stepping onto the creep as she began approaching Alnus Hill. She was hoping to fight some of these mysterious creatures. They were a scourge on the world and from what she heard, she felt that they might be worthy opponents. Slaughtering bandits was boring, none of them could put up a good fight. Hopefully, some of these creatures might be able to entertain her.

It didn't take long for a pack of zerglings to intercept Rory. Seeing the approaching zerglings, Rory licked her lips in anticipation. She leapt forward, landing in the middle of the pack of zerglings with the end of her halberd impaling a zergling into the ground. Rory pulled her weapon out of the corpse of the zergling before striking towards the rest of the zerglings which had turned to attack her.

The blade of the halberd sliced through the zerglings in front of her and Rory used the momentum of the hit to do a somersault, dodging the attacks of the zerglings behind her. She landed just on the edge of the zergling pack and as she landed she slammed her halberd down on a nearby zergling.

The pack of zerglings didn't expect to meet such opposition from a human but they charged forward anyways, despite the fact that their numbers had already been whittled down. Rory turned to face the approaching zerglings and swung forward, slicing a zergling in half and knocking another away. She swung a second time, killing another zergling before she sidestepped an incoming claw.

She knocked back the zergling which had just tried to attack her, before spinning around to smash in the head of a zergling coming in from behind. The few remaining zerglings pounced toward Rory, but a few swift strikes from her cleaned up the survivors.

Rory removed her halberd from the corpse of the last zergling. She gazed around her, seeing that she had successfully taken out the squad of creatures that were sent to kill her. Then, Rory continued forward, her boots squelching as they stepped on the creep.

However, the true power of the Swarm is that they are many. Killing a few is irrelevant, especially if they are zerglings. Though Rory had killed several zerglings, she had now drawn the attention of the other zerg. Now, a group of roaches and hydralisks were sent to kill Rory and have her body taken for examination.

Rory spotted the approaching group of roaches and hydralisks, recognizing that these would probably be tougher opponents than the creatures she fought earlier. The hydralisks acted first, shooting their spines toward Rory. Rory's halberd spun at an inhuman speed as she dashed across the ground, knocking away the spines with her halberd.

Within seconds, Rory was in front of a hydralisk and her halberd swung forward, slashing a hydralisk through its neck. As the dead hydralisk fell, Rory embedded the end of her halberd into the group and vaulted upward, avoiding the hail of spines the other hydralisks shot in retaliation. She landed on top of a second hydralisk, knocking it over while she smashed in the head of a hydralisk to the side. Though she wanted to continue the attack, a volley of spines forced her to retreat.

Rory ducked behind a roach as the spines flew past just above her head. The roach turned toward her and screeched, ready to attack. Rory brought the her halberd down atop the roach, only for it to fail to break through, though it chipped off a piece of the roach's armor in the process. Rory was momentarily surprised by her attack's failure, but when the roach spit its acid at her, she was forced to react, quickly jumping backward. She managed to avoid the majority of the acid, though a few droplets landed on the front of her dress, burning through the fabric.

Hydralisk spines began flying through the air and Rory scrambled to avoid them, trying to move out of the way and using her halberd to deflect spines away from her body. Despite being mostly successful, one of the spines managed to get through and stab through her lower back on the left side. Rory hissed in annoyance as she ripped the spine out of her body.

To dodge the next volley of spines, Rory ducked and rolled toward an approaching roach, ending up right under it. With her back flat on the ground, she tucked her knees in before pushing her legs out at the roach in front of her. Her feet slammed against the underbelly of the roach, causing the roach to flip over onto its back. Rory sprung to her feet and slammed the blade of her halberd down, tearing through the belly of the roach.

With her weapon still buried in the roach, Rory lifted up the body of the roach in front of her, blocking the volley of hydralisk spines along with the spray of acid from one of the other roaches. Then, she dashed forward and slammed a hydralisk with the body of the roach like she was using a bat. The hydralisk was sent sprawling and the body of the roach fell off of the halberd.

Immediately afterwards, Rory did a backflip, dodging the spines coming toward her, and cut open the hydralisk behind her which had been poised to attack. The rest of the zerg forces weren't idle during this however. Rory found herself surrounded by several roaches. Rory planted the end of her halberd into the ground and jumped up atop it as the roaches struck with the acid attacks which missed, hitting the pole of the halberd instead. The divinely blessed weapon resisted the acid's corrosion so the attacks accomplished little.

However, Rory soon had to deal with the spines whizzing through the air as the hydralisks began shooting at her. She spun around the pole of her weapon rapidly, dodging the spines as they flew by. Then, with a leap she pulled the halberd out of the ground and landed outside the encirclement of the roaches. Rory forced the end of her weapon under one of the roaches before prying it up, flicking it toward a group of hydralisks.

As the roach knocked over several of the hydralisk, Rory took advantage of the opening to spring forward and attack the hydralisks. Meanwhile, the roaches behind her began heading toward the hydralisks to support their brethren, though they were lagging behind Rory, who was already beginning to cut through the hydralisks. In these close ranges, Rory was hit by several of the hydralisk spines which she couldn't block in time, but she ignore those injuries and continued to attack.

Meanwhile, Kerrigan watched the fight with interest. By now she had a good estimate of the attacker's fighting capabilities. Someone who could fight against the zerg was definitely no ordinary person. Kerrigan turned to Lelei and inquired about this unique individual.

"That is Rory Mercury", Lelei replied. "She is an apostle that serves the god Emroy. Being bound to a god has given her many powers. As you can see, she has superhuman strength and speed. Furthermore, she is immortal. After becoming an apostle, she stopped aging, which is why she looks like a small girl, despite being hundreds of years old. She cannot die, and will regenerate from any injury given enough time. The apostles are considered existences far above humans, and they represent their god's voice in the world."

"Hmm…", Kerrigan contemplated for a few moments. "I suppose I'll go down and see for myself."

Rory was locked in an intense fight with the zerg sent to attack her. She was making progress, but it was quite a difficult fight, which only made Rory's excitement increase. Suddenly, the zerg around her retreated, and Rory paused as she spotted the new arrival.

Rory saw a strange woman standing amidst a pack of creatures, and she was clearly one of them. The woman walked forward and announced, "I am Sarah Kerrigan, the queen of the Zerg Swarm. You are quite an interesting one, aren't you. Well, you seem to have caught my interest, Rory Mercury."

"Well, you know who I am then", Rory said. "You seem quite confident in yourself. Let's see how well you can stand up against me." Rory grinned as she raised her halberd.

It was Kerrigan who made the first move as she leapt down toward Rory, intending to spear the apostle with her wings. Rory reacted quickly, blocking the blades of the incoming wings with the haft of her halberd. Rory sprung backwards, disengaging from Kerrigan's wings before dashing forward again. Rory swung her halberd forward, only for it to be deflected to the side by a swipe from one of Kerrigan's wings.

Kerrigan's claw swiped forward. The attack was narrowly dodged by Rory who ducked under the claw before swinging her halberd back up. The halberd clipped one of Kerrigan's wings, slicing off the tip of one of the blades protruding from the wing. However, Kerrigan's other claw came downward, and though Rory backed up, the tip of the claw still left a cut in Rory's shoulder.

Kerrigan's wings slashed forward toward Rory's chest. Rory quickly dropped to the ground, the wings passing just inches above her head. Then, Rory let go of her halberd and with her arms she pushed on the ground, launching her upward and forward feet first. Rory's extending legs rocketed toward Kerrigan and her boots struck Kerrigan's abdomen with a crack.

Kerrigan was sent flying backwards, but she landed on the ground with grace and quickly regained her footing as she turned to face the approaching Rory who had picked up her halberd once again. Kerrigan sent a psionic blast toward Rory in retaliation. Rory blocked the blast of energy with her halberd, but was knocked back several steps. Another psionic blast flew toward Rory and she ducked to the side before running forward again.

Rory was once again in front of Kerrigan, and the apostle swung her halberd down in an overhead strike, which Kerrigan responded to by raised her wings up to block. The blade of the halberd struck directly against the wings and managed to cut through, leaving the broken ends of Kerrigan's wings to fall onto the ground.

As Rory stepped forward, intending to finish off her opponent, she caught a blast of psionic energy to the chest and was sent flying several meters backwards. Rory tumbled onto the ground as she groaned in pain from the large hole that had just appeared in her chest. Rory staggered as she stood, her body already beginning to recover from its injuries.

Rory looked up at her opponent with a smile. From Rory's point of view, cutting off Kerrigan's wings would allow Rory to gain the upper hand by removing one of Kerrigan's most potent tools for both attacking and defending herself. However, to Rory's disappointment, she saw Kerrigan's wings regrow within seconds.

Kerrigan smirked. "You thought you had managed to hurt me, didn't you."

Rory frowned in annoyance, as she realized that her opponent would be a far greater challenge than she expected. Rory ran forward again, only to have to pull back her attack in order to parry the pair of wings that were coming toward her. Kerrigan struck once more with her wings, but Rory swung her blade in rapid succession as she parried the strikes, each time cutting of pieces of Kerrigan's wings. Soon, Rory had managed to prune down Kerrigan's wings sufficiently and then the apostle jabbed her halberd forward in a pointed strike.

Kerrigan turned her body away from the incoming jab which sailed through the air next to her, but Rory quickly yanked her weapon to the side, turning the jab into a sideways swing. The halberd swing struck Kerrigan, knocking her to the ground, though the sudden nature of the swing meant it couldn't build up enough momentum to actually injure Kerrigan.

Rory stepped forward to take advantage of the situation, but she soon found herself frozen. Kerrigan's arm was outstretched toward Rory as the Queen of Blades gripped Rory in a psionic grip. Kerrigan stood up and began to approach Rory.

Rory strained against the energy holding her. Her body was being kept immobilized and Rory began struggling against the restriction with every ounce of energy. She was an apostle, blessed with the power of Emroy, she thought to herself. If she was stopped so easily, it would truly be pathetic.

The divine energy that empowered Rory clashed against Kerrigan's psionic grip. After a short struggle, something snapped. Rory broke free of Kerrigan's grip and charged forward toward the surprised queen.

Rory threw her halberd forward like a spear. The tip crashed into Kerrigan's right shoulder before clattering to the ground. Rory took advantage of the moment of distraction to tackle Kerrigan.

Both Kerrigan and Rory's bodies hit the ground as they became locked in a brutal fight. Rory's knee slammed into Kerrigan's torso like a truck, cracking the carapace and knocking the wind out of Kerrigan. Rory followed up with a punch to Kerrigan's chin, her head slamming into the ground from the impact.

Although Kerrigan's wings were pinned on the ground, useless in this situation, she still had access to her claws which used to dig into Rory's body. Though a normal human would be dead from such an attack, Rory was able to resist and continue fighting. Rory's legs wrapped around Kerrigan, preventing Kerrigan from escaping while providing Rory with leverage. Rory headbutted Kerrigan, dazing the queen momentarily. Then, Rory's arms grabbed onto Kerrigan's right arm and began twisting.

Rory's wrestling was bearing fruit as she began to tear Kerrigan's arm out of its socket. However, Kerrigan was not idle as she used her free hand to claw through Rory's thigh. By now, both combatants were practically feral with bloodlust as they tore at each other.

Finally, Rory managed to tear off Kerrigan's arm, but with a scream, Kerrigan let out a wave of psionic energy which knocked Rory off of Kerrigan and sent the apostle tumbling. Kerrigan stood, her arm already beginning to regenerate. The Queen of Blades gazed downwards, her eyes burning with fury.

"Playtime is over", Kerrigan said, coldly.

An infestor popped out of the ground and shot its fungal growth toward Rory. Rory attempted to dodge the approaching ball of goo, but Kerrigan pinned Rory down psionically. While Rory struggled to free herself from Kerrigan's grip, the fungal growth struck Rory, wrapping her in a pile of goo.

Rory grunted in pain as she struggled to move while being coated in the sticky substance which was beginning to eat into her flesh. The fungal growth was proving highly restrictive, and even all of her effort led to Rory only being able to move a few steps.

Kerrigan walked up to Rory leisurely before slicing off Rory's limbs. Now, with Rory unable to resist, it was time to take the specimen in for examination.

* * *

Kerrigan met with Abathur and Lelei who were studying the captured apostle. Rory was being held in a fleshy containment pod. The pod would constantly secrete corrosive acids to start breaking down Rory's body every time she began to regenerate. Through this method, they were able to keep Rory imprisoned indefinitely while they examined her.

Abathur and Lelei were reporting on the results of their findings.

"Source of power not strictly biological", Abathur said. "Analysis of specimen sequences does not reveal anomalies that can account for abilities. Source of power seems to originate from energy contained within specimen."

"Rory is one of the apostles blessed by the gods", Lelei said. "Her powers must be bestowed upon her by her god. I suspect that the god Emroy granted Rory her abilities by placing a portion of his energy in her. That divine energy must be what we are detecting. The energy gives Rory her amazing strength and also regenerates her body."

"Any progress on replicating such a feat?", Kerrigan asked.

"Not viable", Abathur replied. "Cannot be replicated through biological means. Requires the support of an outside power. Implanted energy appears to be significant. Trying to replicate it might be possible, would definitely be inefficient. Expending great amounts of psionic energy to prop up a mediocre combatant is a waste."

"It would seem that the god implanted a great amount of energy within Rory, but only a portion of it is actively used to power her", Lelei added. "Moreover, it seems that the amount of energy she has had grown from what it was initially and soon it will surpass what could be held in her mortal shell. I give her no more than 40 years before the energy will reach such an amount."

Kerrigan seemed intrigued. "So what would occur once that happens?"

"Records indicate that apostles will ascend to become gods at the end of their service", Lelei answered. "Once the energy level reaches a certain point Rory will ascend beyond her mortal body and become a god. This is supported by the information you gleaned from Rory's mind."

"While this is interesting, is there any way we can make use of this?", Kerrigan asked.

"There is a lot of power stored inside Rory", Lelei said. "Right now we have no way to access it, but if we find some way to extract the divine essence, you could gain tremendous power by absorbing her energy."

Kerrigan liked the sound of this idea. "How long will it take for you to figure out a way for me to absorb the essence locked within Rory?"

"I am not sure", Lelei replied. "This problem is very complex. The magic system this world uses to make use of psionic energy is very complicated and even though I have learned a lot there is still much I don't know."

Kerrigan could see where this was going. "And you want to supplement your knowledge. So, what is it that you want to do?"

Lelei was excited. "The city of Rondel is the greatest center of knowledge in the entire continent. It is the home of powerful mages who have done research into magic for countless years. Their archives no doubt contain priceless research. I would like to have permission to travel there and capture the city in order to gain access to their archives."

"Very well", Kerrigan said. "I will give you command of some of our forces so that you can capture Rondel."

Lelei bowed. "Thank you my queen. You will not be disappointed."


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

The city of Rondel was the hub for magical study. Mages from all around the continent gathered in the city, collaborating with one another and furthering the research into magic. Most mages thought of themselves as above ordinary humans, and as a result they had mostly separated themselves from the rest of society, concentrating in one city.

Rondel was the center of knowledge in the world. Its academies and vast archives of knowledge were unmatched. All of the most powerful and skilled mages in the world were gathered together. Collaboration among the brightest minds of the continent helped to produce great discoveries. Nearly all substantial discoveries about magic were made in the city, and all of that knowledge accumulated in the archives of Rondel. The academies of Rondel were the best in the world, teaching students about the intricacies of magic and nurturing bright minds to become the next generation's archmages.

Almost all of the higher level mages were in Rondel. Even though there were mages living all around the continent, and indeed the Empire had many in its armies, these were the lower ranking mages, not even making it to the realm of experts. A large portion of them were mages who couldn't cut it in Rondel and left because of their lack of talent.

The quality of mages in Rondel was unmatched, and provoked envy from others. The Empire had long wished they could force the mages of Rondel to work for them, but despite this, Rondel has maintained their independence for hundreds of years, even though they are an enclave within a continent spanning empire.

The reason for this is that mages are powerful in battle, with even a single archmage being able to shift the tides of a battle. The mages of Rondel are for the most part proud and self centered. This has led to Rondel being rather disunited during normal times as the top mages often have rivalries with each other. Academic disputes are perhaps some of the most vicious fights on the continent, surpassing even debates in the Imperial Senate. The government of Rondel was nothing more than a committee of the top mages, and as such could never agree on anything. Rondel was rather content to stay to itself, preferring isolation rather than expansion. However, even though the mages have their disagreements, if an outside force like the Empire was to attack them, they would no doubt unite to maintain their independence. It was the one thing the old recluses in Rondel would all agree on.

The city was protected by a magical barrier, developed over the course of many years by the archmages of the past. The city is almost impregnable to an assault, as the mages can rain down their spells from the walls of Rondel with impunity while the shield protected them.

Rondel was opulently designed. The city was filled with tall spindly towers, massive domed structures, and other marvels of architecture. The city was pristine, and its grandeur rivaled that of the Imperial Capital. The mages of Rondel thought of themselves as the center of civilization, and as such saw their city as a symbol of prestige. Aqueducts brought water into the city and a network of sewers let the wastewater exit. The city was cutting edge in every way possible, with magical enchantments being employed lavishly throughout.

The city had stayed mostly insulated from the events of the outside world, the inhabitants unconcerned with the growing zerg presence. So far, they were unaffected, but soon that was to change as the city had attracted the attention of the zerg, from Lelei in particular.

Lelei had long coveted the vast knowledge contained within Rondel, and in her youth she had hoped to present her research to the mages of Rondel, gaining their approval so that she could advance in rank. Her dream had been to become an archmage. Now, she saw those prior dreams as pathetic. To grovel for approval from those old fogeys was beneath her. Those people had never recognized her genius and had looked down upon her for being young. Now, she would be able to take what she wanted, and none of those old geezers would be able to stop her.

She could just send swarms of zerg to break through and overrun the city, but that would be far too crude and wasteful, not to mention that it would also cause a lot of collateral damage that might damage what she was looking for. Instead, she had a much better plan, drawing on her knowledge of the city's design.

The magical wards made breaking through the walls difficult. Moreover, the magical barrier also extended underground in order to prevent attackers from digging tunnels to undermine the walls. That meant that simply burrowing into the city wouldn't work. However, there was a point of vulnerability which could be exploited. The sewers could be used as a method of entry.

There were a few monitoring spells on the sewer exits in order to detect when someone entered. Lelei took some time to study the spells and was eventually able to disable them without triggering any alarms. Now, it was possible to enter. A nydus worm pushed its way through a tunnel and made its way under the city. Then, Lelei and her accompanying zerg exited.

There were multiple sewage outflow pipes, so blocking one of them wouldn't be too much of an issue. Still, Lelei had some zerg structures created to break down some of the sewage to prevent extra outflow from being noticed. The cavern the nydus worm hollowed out beneath the city would serve as their base of operations.

The mages with the greatest magical potential were all in Rondel, and the specimens collected here would be of far better quality than the mages they captured elsewhere. So, the first objective was to kidnap mages in the city and send them back to the hive through the nydus worm. This would also serve to weaken the city's combat strength and allow it to be more easily taken.

The zerg forces moved stealthily, traveling through the tunnels below the city and emerging from beneath the surface during the night. The small zerglings would be the ones used in these operations, as they were swift and could hide easily. Packs of zerglings ambushed mages walking through alleyways, and subdued them so that an infestor could swallow them. Dozens of mages were captured each night, and the infestors began delivering their shipments back to the primary hive cluster where they would be kept for research purposes.

Eventually, the disappearances became a cause of concern for the people of Rondel. Mages of all ranks have been disappearing, from lowly students to high ranking archmages. This situation was unprecedented and nobody knew what to do. So, the archmage council met to discuss the crisis.

"Someone or something is targeting us!", one man said. "Even we are not safe. Several of our colleagues have disappeared."

"But what could it be? We haven't been able to determine the cause of the disappearances or where they went. We can't fight a threat we know nothing about."

"Could it be those strange creatures near Alnus Hill that we have heard about?"

"That is absurd. They are far away from here. We haven't seen any sightings of them. And it is ridiculous to think that they would be capable of such a degree of subterfuge."

"Maybe one of you are behind it!", one archmage yelled. "I have had several of my students disappear, and one of my friends disappeared as well. We disagreed with you last month over the waveform nature of magical energy. Could it be that you are holding a grudge over being proved wrong."

"That is preposterous!", the accused archmage replied. "I would never do such a thing. I have the utmost professionalism."

"Yeah right", another muttered. "A few years back when someone humiliated you in a debate, their lab suffered a terrible accident. Afterwards you poached their students."

"That incident had nothing to do with me!", the man replied indignantly. "I did not come here to be the subject of baseless accusations!"

"Let's stop our squabbling. This is going nowhere. We have to find some way to deal with this."

"Everyone should be careful when going outside. If traveling at night you should be sure to only do so in a large group. Be prepared for a fight so you are not caught off guard."

"Some of us don't have friends. This is all because you dragged my name through the mud with your false accusations and now everyone shuns me."

"Even if you don't have friends, try to find others to join with. Or find other outcasts like you."

Finally, the meeting came to a close and the new recommendations were distributed to the people.

The next night, a group of around two dozen mages, among them several expert ranked ones, were walking through an alleyway. They felt quite confident in their safety as they were one of the largest safe travel groups. Even if they were ambushed by an archmage, they would still be able to survive.

Suddenly, a soft voice came from within the darkness. "Look like you have finally wisened up and started traveling together. Too bad it won't work."

"Who's there?" The mage brought his light spell forward, illuminating more of the alley.

Lelei came into view, and then the mages discovered that they were surrounded by some strange creatures. The sight was quite frightening and several in the group tried to back up, only to recognize that there was nowhere for them to go.

"Who are you?", one of them asked. "What are you trying to do?"

Lelei smiled. "I am the greatest mage in the world! And you will all be my test subjects."

"The surrounded mages gasped in shock at the declaration, not expecting such a bold statement. But they weren't idle for long and their confidence recovered as they knew that they were many and there were only up against a single mage and her creatures.

"Hmph. Even if you are an archmage, you still won't be able to beat us. Let's take her down!"

The mages began casting their spells, but with a wave of her hand Lelei knocked down the whole group while the zerglings swarmed in to attack. The zerglings jumped on the mages, doing their best to distract them and gnaw their way through the magical shields. Meanwhile, the mages began to fight back, blasting back zerglings with their spells and conjuring an ice wall to block the zerglings.

For a moment, the wall looked like it would hold, but a powerful fireball from Lelei obliterated the ice, sending exploding shards of ice toward the mages hiding behind the wall. The magic shields of the mages helped to weather the blast, though some of them were knocked over. Meanwhile, the rest of the mages weren't idle, as they were busy preparing spells to attack back.

An impressive barrage of spells filled the air as the mages focused their attacks on Lelei. However, Lelei intercepted the spells with her own barrage of magic. The spells clashed, creating colorful explosions as they collided with each other. The sheer volume and power of the spells Lelei was outputting gave her the upper hand and the tides quickly turned.

A multitude of magical blasts struck the mages, blasting them to the ground and breaking the magic shields of several of them. Then, the zerglings pounced, mobbing the disorganized group of mages. The zerglings were able to begin subduing the weakened mages and attacking the few that were still standing. Lelei began picking off the remaining resistance, breaking through their shields and binding them with a magical shackling spell that prevented them from moving.

Seeing the battle going poorly for his comrades, one mage decided to run. He blew up the ground with an explosion, sending a cloud of dust into the air. While the others were distracted, he ran, hoping to get out of the alley. However, Lelei was able to sense him despite mundane vision being clouded, and she wouldn't let him get away.

Lelei's hand rose and a stream of ice shot out toward the fleeing man. Upon striking him, the ice expanded and encased him, sticking him to the ground. Upon being covered in ice, the man began panicking, realizing that he was discovered. He began preparing a fire spell to melt an ice, but before he could do so, an attack from Lelei shattered the ice and broke through his shield. Then, an invisible force lifted him up and tossed him back into the encirclement where he joined the rest of his group.

It wasn't long before the entire group was subdued. The fight was sure to have attracted some attention, so it was best to be gone soon. The defeated mages were dragged off by the zerglings toward several waiting infestors, which soon swallowed them up. Then, the group left, leaving an empty alleyway behind them.

* * *

One intrepid master mage had been thinking about the crisis that gripped the city. There was a group of kidnappers who were taking people and disappearing. No one could find them, despite the city being searched several times. Even magical locator spells couldn't find any of the missing people within the range of the city.

He thought about where they could be hiding, and he recalled his earlier pursuits as a child. He had been a rather adventurous lad, and he had spent time exploring the sewers of the city. Then, the thought hit him. What if whoever was behind this was hiding underneath the city? He was suddenly inspired by his idea and he decided to go check the sewers. He resolved to be quiet and sneaky, so that he could spy on whoever was down there without them knowing. If there was anyone down there in the first place. This was a rather unlikely location, and he doubted he could get anyone to follow him into the muck. He would go down, see if there was anything down there, and come up.

So, he decided to go on a little exploration, just like what he did in his youth. He found an entry pipe and went down the ladder. The tunnels were dark, but he didn't use a light spell, as that might draw unwanted attention. He knew the place well, so he was able to operate on memory as he walked through the tunnels.

After walking for a while, he realized that something wasn't right. The ground seemed to be soft, while the sewers were made of stone. He paused and bent down to feel the ground. It was covered in some slimy substance. Then, he heard a voice behind him.

"It looks like someone is going where they aren't supposed to. Too bad for you, I supposed", Lelei said.

The man turned around and lit a light spell. He saw someone in front of him. It appeared to be a woman, as she had feminine features, and rather nice ones in his opinion. However, she was inhuman, seeming as though she was part creature. But since she spoke, it was clear that she was intelligent.

"Are you behind this?", he asked.

"Of course. Thank you for volunteering yourself for collection", Lelei said. Then, an infestor popped out of the ground in front of her. The unlucky mage found himself dragged into the creature, and try as he did to resist, he could do nothing to avert his fate.

* * *

When even large groups traveling together ended up disappearing, with signs of them being defeated in a fight, the fear felt by the remaining people spiked drastically. People would avoid leaving their homes as much as possible, and the reclusive archmages essentially barricaded themselves within their residences. The city lived in fear, the unprecedented situation leaving them helpless.

This night, Lelei approached one house in particular. It was the residence of Mimoza La Mer. Lelei's minions dug a tunnel through the ground, breaking through the floor of the house while Lelei disabled the magical protections around the house. Then, Lelei emerged inside the house and looked around.

An old woman, clothed in her nightgown and holding a staff, walked down the stairs to confront the intruder that she had sensed break though the house's magical defenses. The moment she saw the figure in her living room, she immediately attacked, sending a powerful blast of magic toward Lelei. To the old mage's shock, the intruder blocked the attack easily, without much effort.

"So you are the one behind this", Mimoza said. "It seems that you have come to take me as well, but I, Mimoza La Mer, won't be taken without a fight."

"You won't have a choice in the matter", Lelei replied.

Mimoza gasped as she finally recognized the person in front of her. "Lelei? Is that you? What happened? What have you become?"

"I have become much more than you could ever imagine", Lelei replied. "I am not the little girl you once knew, Mimoza. I have changed, and I have become part of something greater."

"Why are you doing this", Mimoza asked. "Why have you been kidnapping people?"

"I need experimental subjects", Lelei replied coldly.

Mimoza's face widened in horror. "How could you do this Lelei? Those are people. You can't just do what you wish with them and inflict unmentionable horrors on those poor souls. My disciple, your own sister, was one of those who was taken! Are you going to inflict the same fate onto her, do you care so little for your own kin?"

"I have moved on. She is not important, neither are you. My past life does not concern me now", Lelei said. "I have been born anew. I have been given purpose."

"You have submitted to those creatures, abandoned your humanity, for what?" Mimoza exclaimed.

"The zerg are my family now", Lelei said. "They accept me, and I am part of something greater. They care for me, not like the other humans. They are my new life and nothing else is needed."

"Lelei…", Mimoza said in despair as tears fell from her face. "I am sorry it had to come to this. But I have to stop you now. I can't let you commit any more evils. I will fight you, the monster in front of me, not the sweet girl I once knew."

"So be it", Lelei said indifferently.

The two immediately began fighting, blasting at each other with a wide array of spells. Mimoza was old, while Lelei was quick and agile, able to dodge spells easily. Still, within the house space was limited so it was impossible to dodge everything. However, Lelei's power far outstripped Mimoza's, and her shield was able to stand up to the attacks while Mimoza was pummeled by the rapid assault of powerful attacks coming from Lelei. The house was being devastated by the attacks, with spells breaking the furniture and blowing holes into the walls.

Finally, Mimoza was left defeated on the ground and Lelei stepped past her, moving toward Mimoza's room as she began looking through the items. Finally, she found what she was here for, the key to the archive of Rondel's Magic Academy, which Mimoza was in charge of protecting. The defeated old mage lay defeated, accepting her fate as an infestor came in and swallowed her up.

* * *

Now, it was time for Lelei to move onto the final stage of her plan. The city was already weakened with the loss of most of its people. Now, Lelei would deal the final blow.

A massive swarm of zerg surrounded Rondel. The approach of the swarm had finally spurred the city into action as the warning bells rung. Everyone left their homes, coming to the walls to mount a defense. At this point, most already guessed that the attacks occuring in the past few weeks have just been to weaken the city, and now it was time for the result to be decided.

The call to arms had left most of the inner city unguarded. In particular, only a few people were left guarding the academy and the central archives. This was Lelei's objective. With so few people left, the city could not afford to guard everything, and it had pulled nearly all of its strength to the walls. Lelei essentially walked into the archives unopposed, easily dispatching the few remaining guards.

Lelei unlocked the massive doors and stepped into the large chamber. She gazed upon the rows upon rows of bookshelves. Lelei grinned in anticipation. This was it, all of the knowledge of Rondel at her fingertips.

It was the accumulation of many generations. The work of countless scholars was contained within the archives of Rondel. There was research into every aspect of magic. Indeed, the research into the taboo topics of the gods was sealed here as to not attract the attention of the outside. Rondel had made that mistake once, their research into the matters of the gods leading to the gods causing a riot that destroyed the original library, one that was even more grand than this. Ever since then, any time a researcher had stumbled into the forbidden topic, his work would be sequestered here so that it would never see the light of day.

A group of zerg creatures followed Lelei into the room. They were specially designed for this operation. These were creatures designed to transport objects, books in particular. They had a dry inner cavity which could be sealed airtight. Lelei directed these creatures to begin cleaning out the archive, collecting all of the various texts and scrolls contained within. Once everything was collected, the books were transported back to the hive cluster through the nydus worm.

With the main objective secured, it was time to move onto the secondary objective of taking the city. The defenders had been able to hold on for now, the magical shield surrounding Rondel still intact. Of course, the zerg were only giving the appearance of trying hard, as they were waiting for Lelei's business within the city to conclude. The zerg charged the walls, battering against the shield while the mages attacked the zerg with spells. The surviving archmages, using an ancient formation left for the defense of the city, were able to bombard the zerg with powerful spells, whittling away at the large army. The entirety of their attention was focused on the zerg outside the city, and thus they were caught completely off guard when a tide of zerg emerged from within the walls.

Zerg forces began pouring into the city from the nydus worm. As the streets began being flooded by zerg, the forces outside the walls began their attack which was much more vicious than before. The power core maintaining the city's defenses was destroyed and before long the walls were overrun by zerglings.

The zerg came from all sides as the mages were completely surrounded. One by one they fell, unable to stand up against the sheer numbers of the zerg. In a matter of minutes, all resistance had crumbled.

Meanwhile, Lelei was already out of Rondel, traveling back toward the hive cluster with all of her new books, as she couldn't wait to begin examining them.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

The Empire was a vast polity, spanning an entire continent. Its cities were numerous and full of splendor. The city of Italica was entirely unexceptional in the context of the vast Empire; although it was quite important regionally as a large trade hub, and it was quite sizable, there were many others like it across the entire Empire.

Although in ordinary times, such a city would not warrant much more than a passing thought, at present it was to receive much greater attention, as it was the closest major city to Alnus Hill, and thus the one that would be first affected by the disturbance unleashed in the wake of the appearance of the gate.

The city of Italica was on the brink of disaster. As the grand armies of the Empire passed through Italica on their way to Alnus Hill, the soldiers of the city were conscripted to join the army, along with Count Formal, who would be leading the division of soldiers from his city. However, the tragedy that befell the army meant that none of those people would be coming back. As a result, the city was now bereft of both its leadership and most of its fighting men.

The daughter of the previous count was technically in control of the city, but the young girl commanded no respect from the people and could exert very little influence. She could neither issue effective decrees nor inspire her people. In such circumstances, the state of the city declined as public order began to disintegrate. Frightening rumors about the creatures coming from Alnus Hill had spread throughout the city, and riots had occurred which targeted the city's demihuman population. The demihumans living within the city had never been popular with the people, and they have only been able to remain because of the Formal Clan's support. But with the young girl currently leading the clan unable to assert much authority, violence broke out as people accused the demihumans of being in league with the creatures of Alnus Hill and planning on subverting the city. As a result, many of the demihumans living within Italica fled the city. Not long afterwards, the city became besieged by a bandit army.

The only source of order in these dark times was unexpected. Princess Pina Co Lada was 10th in line for the throne, practically irrelevant in terms of imperial politics. However, she was an active and energetic girl, always seeking a greater role. It was her ambition that led to her creating the Rose Order of Knights.

However, her knight order was looked down upon, and was seen as ceremonial rather than an effective combat unit. Pina always felt slighted by those in the Imperial Court which dismissed her, and as such she wished to prove herself. The Emperor's speech about every citizen performing their duty had inspired her, and she wished to prove herself by leading the Rose Order of Knights to investigate the situation at Alnus Hill. Her father, the Emperor, had humored her, seeing it as nothing more than a childish whim.

However, Pina was extremely serious about her task, and as such she put in her maximum effort. This was the reason she didn't try to leave once she discovered the situation was vastly different from what she was expecting. Not long after she arrived, the city had become caught up in a bandit attack, and now she had to organize the defense of the city.

It was not an easy task. There were almost no professional soldiers left in the city, and she had to make do with hastily conscripted peasants. Though her knight Grey was currently training the conscripts, and whipping them into something approximating fighting shape, there was only so much that could be done. The city was fortified, with barricades blocking off the gates and the walls manned by the newly trained men, but even with all the preparation, Pina felt that her chances were bleak.

The bandit army far outnumbered the defenders, and they were better trained as well. Even with a defensive advantage, it was unlikely that the city could hold. Pina hoped that they could hold on until Bozes and the rest of the knights arrived. With them, they might be able to even the odds at least a little bit.

Pina looked out over Italica as she walked along the stone walls, surveying the defenses. It was a well ordered city, its buildings were arranged in neat rows and columns. Everything and everyone had its place. In the center of the city was a hill where the count's residence stood. In ordinary times, the city would be the very representation of order, but now it was standing against the tides of disorder. If the bandits were to take the city, it would no doubt be devastated. The neatly arranged houses would be no more, burned down by the attackers during a sack. Blood would be running through the streets as defenseless people would be slaughtered by the bandits rampaging uncontrollably.

This would be the fate of the city if they failed here. That is why she had to stay here, to make sure the city survived. Pina saw the vast army of bandits arrayed outside the city. It was clear that they would soon be attacking once again.

Pina heard a horn sound, and she saw a tide of men advancing. The bandits were coming for another attack. As the bandits got closer to the wall, she had the men begin throwing down stones. The stones killed some of the bandits, but a few managed to get to the wall. Soon, ladders began hitting the wall as the bandits began trying to climb up. The defenders began hacking away at the ladders, or pushing them off the wall. With boiling oil being poured over the walls, the attempted escalade was thwarted.

The bandits retreated, for now at least. There was no doubt that they would be back later. But as the day was almost over, it was likely that they would decide to wait for tomorrow. Still, it was important for them to keep watch in case the bandits tried to launch a surprise attack during the night.

Pina spoke with Grey concerning the state of the defenses.

"How is the training going?", Pina asked.

"It is about as well as could be expected", Grey said with a sigh. "The people are motivated, after all it is their homes they are protecting. However, will can only go so far. Real training would take a long time, time we do not have. Currently, the men at least know how to hold a weapon. But when it comes to actual fighting they won't be able to perform very well. I am training them as much as I can, but even I can't work miracles."

"The city has strong walls, surely that will help to even the odds", Pina said.

"That is true, and it is the only reason the city hasn't fallen yet", Grey responded. "However, we have so few men, and it is difficult to cover such a large area. Furthermore, with each attack we are losing more and more men. Our numbers are limited, while theirs are not. Eventually, we won't have enough people to defend effectively."

"I see." Pina looked dispirited. "What do you think of our chances?"

"We might be able to hold a little while longer", Grey said. "But we will fall eventually. Our only hope is an outside force relieving us."

"Hopefully, my knights will be able to save us", Pina said. "Still, why hasn't the Empire sent an army to deal with these bandits. Italica isn't insignificant. We can't just be leaving our people to die."

"I know not what goes on in the mind of the Emperor", Grey said. "All we can do is wait and hope."

The next day, Pina spotted a cloud of dust in the distance, characteristic of an approaching ground of riders. She hoped that they were coming to help. The situation was becoming untenable as they were running out of oil and stones and the defenders were tiring from the constant attacks.

As the arriving group of riders approached, Pina was finally able to spot the banner. Her heart soared in joy. It was the Rose Knights. Perhaps now they would finally be saved.

However, Pina's joy soon turned into shock and then to fright as she saw the bandits react to the arrivals. The bandits gathered themselves up and blocked the path to the city. Then, as the two groups clashed the numerically superior bandit army began to envelop the formation of knights.

The Rose Order had become bogged down in a brutal melee, and with the vast disparity in numbers, it seems that they would soon be wiped out.

Pina shouted toward the defenders. "Open the gates! We have to go out to save them."

The townsmen looked at her and did nothing. Pina waited for them to begin moving, but they never did.

"What are you all doing, we have to join the fight", Pina said.

The defenders were unamused. "Are you crazy? We are going to die if we go out there. We can barely hold the walls as it is. We aren't trained soldiers. On an open battlefield we will be massacred."

Pina was shocked into silence. "But…"

The princess went to her knight, Grey, and informed him of the situation. "Bozes and the others are out there! We have to go save them!"

Grey sighed, with a solemn look on his face. "I am sorry. There is nothing that we can do."

"But those are our friends, our comrades", Pina pleaded. "How can we leave them out there."

"I trained these townsfolk", Grey said. "I know their capabilities. There is no way that we can get them out there to fight. They know nothing of warfare. The limit of their capabilities is standing in a fixed position with a spear."

Pina was close to tears. "But what can we do?"

"Pray", Grey said. "Pray that they survive."

Pina did pray, but her pleas fell on deaf ears. Pina stood on the walls, looking over the battle. The Order of Rose Knights was surrounded by the bandit army and slowly but surely the circle was tightening.

The knights fought fiercely. They were indeed better equipped than the bandits, and they fought with valor. Bozes was in the front, felling bandits with every swing. However, with each one killed another took its place. The knights were not invincible, and one by one they were being killed.

As Pina watched in despair, she tried to cling onto hope. But even that hope was crushed when the final pocket collapsed and it became clear that the her knights were dead, every last one of them that was out there.

Pina sank to her knees, sobbing. She cried over the death of her friends, her companions that had been with her for many years. The order represented her hopes and dreams, and those hopes were now crushed.

For the rest of the day, Pina sat in a daze. Her world had shifted so suddenly, so drastically, that she couldn't accept the reality of the situation. Her grief was manifested in denial. Pina was almost disconnected from the world, and only toward the end of the day did she finally snap back into focus when she was brought back into reality by an attack.

The bandits were focusing the entirety of their efforts on attacking the city. The defenders were tired and demoralized. They had little leadership, as Pina had become withdrawn.

Finally, the bandits broke through the gate. Hordes of men began streaming in, only stopping when they reached the layer of barricades set up around the gate. However, such a trivial thing could not stop them for long. The frightened civilians stood behind the wooden barricades holding spears. Their knees shook in fright.

One particularly large man stepped forward, smashing his way through the barricade. The defenders behind the barricade got pulped and the rest began to scatter. The defensive line was broken open and the bandits began to force their way through as the defense crumbled.

Pina watched in fear. Death was approaching. All around them, the bandits advanced unhindered. She saw Norma charge forward to attack the large bandit. Norma fought bravely, but he was outclassed. Pina gulped in horror as she saw Norma's head caved in by an axe.

Pina stood silently as the bandit approached. It was over. This would be the end. There was nowhere left for her to go.

Then, she noticed the bandits begin to retreat. It was as though a miracle had occurred. It almost seemed as though they were fleeing in fear. Pina wondered what could possibly have caused such a shift.

Outside the city, the cause of the disintegration of the bandit army was made clear. A vast swarm of zerg had struck at the assembled bandit army outside the city. The bandits had lost all cohesion as they began running away in terror. It was of no use of course, they were surrounded. The bandits, who had been surrounding the city, were now themselves surrounded by the zerg.

Hordes of zerglings tore through the ranks of the bandit army, and the roaches followed in their wake. Nowhere was safe, as hydralisk spines rained down from above, striking anywhere without warning. Mutalisks came down from the skies, unleashing glaive worms that tore their way through the ranks of the army. Only moments before, the minds of the bandits had been focused on loot, wealth, and victory. Now, all that was left was survival, and despair.

It was a scene that was best described as butchery. The surrounded bandits made their stand as even those who were cowards had nowhere to run. Under conventional military doctrine, forcing your opponent into a corner with no avenue of retreat was a bad idea, as it would only cause the fight to be more difficult. However, that was utterly inconsequential in the current situation. The bandits were completely outmatched, their weapons doing little to harm the zerg. On the other hand, the attacking zerg cleaved through the ranks of the bandits like a hot knife through butter. Once the bandits were killed, the zerg entered the city. Italica, spared from one terrible fate, was now subject to a far more horrifying one.

As Pina came out of her hiding place, hoping to see the face of her salvation. Instead, she saw only a nightmare as she spotted the vast tide of zerg coming toward her. The terrifying visage of the zerg burned itself into her mind and she staggered back in terror. She turned to escape, but the zerglings moved far faster than her and there was nowhere left for her to run.

In these desperate moments, Pina saw her death was imminent. However, her knight, Grey, stepped out in front of Pina, ready to defend her. He charged into the tide of zerglings, ready to give his life to buy Pina more time. Grey charged forward as the very image of courage, but before he even reached the zerglings, he collapsed to the ground, his chest full of hydralisk spines.

As the zerglings came upon Pina, she had but one thought. "I was wrong. Those bandits were nothing. This is the true face of death."

The last thing Princess Pina Co Lada saw, was the maw of a zergling.

* * *

Alnus Hill was strongly fortified, and there was no hope of any army assailing it now. The only threat that could possibly exist were the primal zerg on the other side of the gate. As such, the gate was heavily fortified, with spine crawlers surrounding the entrance. Daily skirmishes happened inside the tunnel, but for the most part that front was completely stagnant. Thus, the zerg now had the freedom to turn their gazes elsewhere.

The zerg had been biding their time, but now the time was ripe for action. The Swarm tore through the countryside, brushing away all opposition. The scene in Italica was by no means unique. City after city fell to the zerg and creep began spreading across the land. With the full might of the Swarm unleashed, there was nothing to stand in their path.

Even well fortified cities could not stand against the zerg. Walls were utterly inconsequential to the mutalisks, which harassed those in the city and drove the soldiers off of the walls. The Swarm's new Ogrelisks used their strength to bash through the walls and gates, allowing the flood of smaller zerg to enter the city.

Already, a nydus network was forming, allowing the fast movement of zerg from one location to another. The nydus worms were also used tactically, allowing the zerg forces to emerge within a city, bypassing all of the defenders. Ordinarily, close quarters combat in the narrow streets would help the defenders as the tight area would prevent the zerg from making full use of their numbers. However, the zerg didn't even need superior numbers as even a couple zerglings could tear apart an entire regiment of human soldiers.

Under Kerrigan's command, the zerg went forth and conquered the land. However, the zerg were essentially taking the land with almost no effort, and Kerrigan felt boredom. She was always one who liked to command her forces from the front, but here it was basically pointless. Resistance would collapse almost instantly just from the zerg showing up.

On a whim, Kerrigan decided to attack a city by herself, without even making use of her Swarm. She was able to blast open the gate and stride into the city, killing anyone who tried to attack her. None of the humans posed a threat to her and she was able to sweep through unopposed, though zerglings had to be employed afterwards to clean up the survivors which were fleeing in every direction. After all, she couldn't be bothered to kill them all herself. Still, after destroying several cities, it became rather stale and Kerrigan had to find some other way to occupy herself.

The zerg advance was unchecked and soon they would reach the capital, and there the Empire was prepared to make its stand. Kerrigan didn't doubt the outcome of the battle, but she wondered whether she should even go there herself, to watch the last bits of resistance be snuffed out, or if she should just let her forces wipe out the pitiful army. She didn't feel anything toward the irrelevant and essentially meaningless terrans of this world. While destroying Augustgrad and killing Mengsk would give her much joy, destroying this backwater wouldn't. She had no personal connection to this place or its people. So, she decided to just send her Swarm forth. The demise of the Empire was at hand.


	9. Chapter 9

**So judging by the comments, last chapter was a bit controversial regarding how I portrayed Kerrigan. I would like to respond by saying that firstly, Kerrigan is definitely not a good person. In Heart of the Swarm, she continues to kill lots of people, be it personally or through her broodmothers when she orders them to destroy multiple Dominion worlds. The only time she adopted the pretense of sparing innocents was because of Jim Raynor. In this story, since she has been away for a while, Kerrigan has started to relapse a bit, especially since there is no one watching.**

 **Now, part of my intention at the end of last chapter was to show her apathy toward the overall situation, as she really doesn't care about these people. I do this to set a contrast in relation to… someone else who you will see soon.**

* * *

 **Chapter 9**

As news of the rapid zerg advance reached the capital, the city was thrown into pandemonium. Before this, the citizens and senators had been completely confident in their survival as the threat seemed far away. Most of them had believed that the Empire's powerful military would have dealt with the small invasion in time, and that there was nothing for them to worry about. The time after the initial appearance of the zerg had been a quiet time, and people had gone about their normal business.

But now that the Empire was faced with a military catastrophe, some people finally began to awaken to the true scope of the threat. Within days, a third of the Empire's territory had been lost and the invaders were poised to attack the Imperial capital. For once, the common citizen was beginning to have doubts, as did some of the senators. However, the emperor began cracking down on defeatism and continued to spread the message that victory would be a sure thing.

Despite his optimistic rhetoric, the emperor himself was facing a crisis of confidence. Knowing full well that the enemy was a terrifying one, and seeing as his plan to slow down the enemy advance through a scorched earth tactic had failed utterly, he despaired. One night, he died from a heart attack, the stress of the situation being too much for his aging body to bear.

The next morning, a servant delivered breakfast to the emperor. He knocked on the door, waiting to be told to come in. But no response came from within the room. The servant waited, and knocked a few more times, but still there was no response.

The servant continued to wait, assuming that the emperor had a busy night and was still asleep. But as more time passed, it became necessary for the emperor to wake up, as there was important business that he needed to deal with. Soon, the royal chamberlain was called and he entered the emperor's room.

"Your majesty, you must wake up. You must address the senate this morning", the chamberlain said.

However, there was still no sign that the emperor was awake. Now worried, the chamberlain parted the curtains surrounding the emperor's bed, and he noticed that the emperor's face was pale and his body was completely still. With mounting panic, the chamberlain began shaking the emperor, desperately hoping that this wasn't what it seemed like. But after shaking the cold body repeatedly, the truth was undeniable.

"The emperor is dead", the chamberlain muttered in shock.

Behind him, several servants gasped. "The emperor is dead?", one of them said. "How could this be?"

"Tell no one", the chamberlain said. "We can't let the news get out right now. We are not ready to deal with this. If people were to find out that the emperor was dead, there would be chaos, perhaps even a succession crisis. We can't afford that with the enemy so close. Tell them that the emperor is sick."

"Oh, my father is sick?" It was prince Zorzal, who had been passing by at this very moment. "Let me see him."

"I am afraid I can't do that", the chamberlain said. "His condition is very serious, no one must be allowed in."

Zorzal was unamused. "He's dead isn't he. I caught a bit of your earlier conversation."

Seeing that he was exposed, the chamberlain gave up trying to hide it. "Yes, he is dead. But we cannot let the empire fall into chaos."

"I have an idea. I will announce my father's death to the senate which will be meeting today, and you can claim that my father's last words were to name me has the next emperor. I will take over before any of the other princes are able to make preparations to take advantage of the situation. That way, we can have a stable succession.

* * *

The assembled senators were waiting for the emperor to begin his address. But it seemed that he was late. Some of them began to wonder where he was. Then, a man entered and approached the front of the Senate chamber, standing next to the throne. It was prince Zorzal.

"Honorable senators, hear me", Zorzal said. "I come bearing grave news. My father, the emperor, has died. On his deathbed, he named me the next emperor. Thus, I am now the emperor." Zorzal sat down on the throne.

Shocked murmurs began filling the senate chamber. The news had caught everyone off guard and many couldn't believe what was happening.

"It is true", the royal chamberlain said. "As the emperor was on his deathbed, he was adamant that the empire must continue on. To that end, he appointed Zorzal to lead us."

Shouting filled the senate chamber as the various senators all began discussing heatedly about the validity of Zorzal's ascension. Some wanted to support another candidate, and others wanted the senate to take command during the crisis.

"Order!", Zorzal shouted. "This is not the time to be squabbling amongst ourselves. The empire is under siege! We must all stand united. I swear that I will do everything I can to ensure the continuation of the empire. We shall defeat the invaders and achieve victory! Long live the Empire!"

"Love live the Empire!", the senators began shouting. Mixed in among the cries were shouts of "Long live Emperor Zorzal." With this, the senate's support for Zorzal was secured. However, it was not time for Zorzal to be idle. He still had a momentous task ahead of him.

The now emperor Zorzal began organizing the city's defenses. The army was fully mobilized and placed in defensive positions. Zorzal stood atop a balcony in the palace overlooking the city center as he addressed the army.

"Soldiers of the empire! I am Zorzal El Caesar, the emperor. Last night, my father died from illness, the result of him overworking himself day and night to secure the future of our great empire. He was truly dedicated to the empire and its people. We must not let his sacrifice be in vain. The empire shall not fall. Together we are stronger than ever before. Within our hearts lies a soul of courage and daring which will allow us to triumph over all obstacles. This is a struggle for the very existence of our nation. We will not give up! We will never surrender! Nothing shall be able to defeat the combination of the military might of the empire, the unshakable will of the people, and my unbending leadership. Together we shall drive back the creatures that threaten us, and bring the empire to a new age of prosperity!"

"Glory to his majesty! Long live emperor Zorzal! Long live the Empire!", the soldiers shouted. "To victory! Victory, Victory, Victory!"

The soldiers had their morale lifted, and each of them went about their assigned duties with great vigor and enthusiasm, each confident of the coming victory. The capital was a flurry of activity as preparations were made to shore up the defenses of the city.

The entrances to the city would be fortified and traps would be placed to hold back enemy attacks. The preparation was quite impressive to be honest, and Zorzal was able to bring the city to its maximum state of military readiness.

That night, Zorzal brought his slave Tyuule into his room so that he could rape her. This was a common occurrence for Tyuule, who had been enslaved by Zorzal many years ago, and she grimly endured it as usual. By now she was mostly numb to the experience, but she continued to harbor a burning rage in her heart, longing to take her revenge on Zorzal.

After Zorzal had fallen asleep from exhaustion, Tyuule rummaged through Zorzal's desk. She retrieved several documents, the details for the defensive plans of the city. Then, Tyuule snuck away from the room.

The palace was less heavily guarded than usual, as most of the armed men were diverted to defending the walls so Tyuule was able to get outside without much issue. She walked through the city, heading toward the east gate. Though it was night, there were still people up and about, making final preparations for the city's defense. Tyuule wasn't made much mind, most people assuming she was sent on some task.

Finally, she reached the gate. She was immediately stopped by a guard.

"State your business", the guard said.

"I am here to carry out a task given to me by emperor Zorzal", Tyuule said. She took out a letter, stamped with Zorzal's seal, which she had taken from his desk.

The guard opened the letter and examined it. "You are supposed to spy on the enemy force to collect information about their movements? It is described as a critical task to collect intelligence."

The guard smiled. "You can go then."

The gate was opened and Tyuule left the city. After she was far away in the distance, the guard turned to his friend who was with him and laughed. "I sure wouldn't want to be her right now. Going to spy on the enemy camp by herself? Looks like she's dead. It would be a miracle if she manages to remain undetected."

"Yeah", his friend replied. "I am just glad that we don't have to do it. Leave the suicide missions to the expendables."

* * *

Tyuule walked across the land, heading toward the land where the invading creatures were coming from. She was tired, but her high endurance and her burning hatred sustained her as she made the arduous journey. She had heard that the creatures were being controlled by a mage, someone she could talk to. Though she knew that she would most likely be killed, she would be able to deliver Zorzal's plans to the enemy. It was worth it to sacrifice her life to ensure the downfall of Zorzal and his empire.

Soon, the overlords spotted a single individual walking toward them. Ordinarily, any humans who approached would be killed immediately, but this situation was rather out of the ordinary. Firstly, the person didn't appear to be human as she had long ears coming out of her head. Such a unique specimen would be fascinating to research. Furthermore, it was quite unusual for someone to approach the zerg alone, without even being armed. So, it was decided that she would be captured rather than immediately killed.

An infestor arrived to collect her, and surprisingly she didn't resist as the infestor swallowed her up. Indeed, she seemed to be rather happy about the whole matter. This only added to the mystery surrounding this strange individual. As a result, once Tyuule was delivered back to the hive cluster, Kerrigan decided to interrogate the new prisoner personally.

When Kerrigan arrived in the chamber where Tyuule was being held, she saw that the new prisoner had taken out a bundle of papers out of her cloak. Then Tyuule spoke.

"I have brought the defensive plans for the capital", Tyuule said. "I hope that you can make use of them to crush Zorzal and his Empire."

Kerrigan paused. She looked into Tyuule's mind and saw a deep, burning hatred. Now, Kerrigan was intrigued. "Tell me about yourself."

Tyuule took a deep breath and began recounting the horrors of her life and how she came to be in her current position. "I was the queen of the Bunny Warrior tribe, which lived in the plains northeast of the Empire. One day, prince Zorzal brought the Empire's army to attack us. We fought bravely, but their numbers were too many. Finally, we were besieged in our capital and were on the brink of defeat. In order to save my people, I decided to surrender to Zorzal and allow myself to be taken as a slave if he agreed to spare my people. I was a slave to Zorzal and he beat me, raped me, and forced me to debase myself. Still, I took solace in the fact that my people would be safe."

"But I was wrong, Only later did I discover that he had lied to me", Tyuule spat. "After enslaving me, he had his men wipe out my people anyways and tell them that I sold them out to save myself. Now, even the survivors see me as a traitor. I am utterly alone in this world." Tyuule's voice was filled with bitterness. "Now, all that I have left is revenge. My only goal is to bring about the downfall of Zorzal and his empire. I care not for my own life, as long as Zorzal is destroyed I shall be content."

Tyuule lifted her head. "That is why I have come here. With my worthless life, I wish to ensure that my vengeance will be carried out, that Zorzal will die as everything he seeks to build falls apart around him."

Tyuule's words struck a chord with Kerrigan. The way Tyuule spoke and the raw emotion she was projecting made it clear just how deeply important this was to her. Kerrigan saw someone who had faced a grievous betrayal and who was now utterly consumed by the desire for revenge. In a way, this overwhelming hatred and lust for vengeance against one man was something very familiar to Kerrigan. This was something that Kerrigan could understand, indeed she understood it most intimately.

After hearing the story from Tyuule, Kerrigan was deep in thought. From a certain perspective, they were quite similar. Though their particular circumstances may differ, they were now both only left with a single purpose, to take revenge. Indeed, Kerrigan was quite impressed by Tyuule and her dedication. To seek out the zerg and to accept her own death, the lengths that she was willing to go through was impressive. Tyuule was a most fascinating person, and Kerrigan couldn't help but take a personal interest.

"Do you know what your mistake was?", Kerrigan asked.

"Trusting that man", Tyuule said with gritted teeth. "How stupid I was. Thinking that he would have kept his word after I surrendered myself."

"A queen should never bow", Kerrigan said. "That is your mistake."

"I am no queen now", Tyuule said bitterly. "I am nothing anymore. Nothing but a tool to carry out revenge."

"Indeed", Kerrigan replied. "But even in that you have done little. Those plans you brought, they are worthless to me. Such trivialities are unimportant. Zorzal would have been crushed all the same. But I applaud your effort."

"Worthless…" Tyuule muttered. "To think that all I did was for nothing. At least Zorzal will die in the end. Though I wish I could have played a part in his demise."

Kerrigan chuckled. "Well you still can, Tyuule. I shall offer you a chance. Should you devote yourself to me fully, with the willingness to sacrifice everything, I shall grant you the opportunity to take your revenge for yourself. The question is, are you willing to serve."

Tyuule could hardly believe what she was hearing. Her head rose as she looked at Kerrigan. "Yes. I will do anything. If you give me this chance, I will serve you forever."

"You shall become one with the Swarm", Kerrigan said. "Your body will change, morph into something greater, and you will hardly even recognize who you once were."

"Of course", said Tyuule. "This body of mine, how despoiled it has become. I have already sacrificed everything. What more is this? There is nothing that I am unwilling to give up. My old life is gone now. All that is left is vengeance."

Kerrigan arranged for Abathur to begin his work on Tyuule. Unlike with Lelei, Tyuule didn't have any psionic abilities so the infestation procedure was far simpler. This procedure would be somewhat rougher though and in some cases could drive the subject insane. However, this wasn't too much of a problem. Kerrigan herself had made it through her much more dangerous and unguided second infestation by relying on her burning desire for revenge anchoring her mind, allowing her to weather the process and avoid being driven insane. Kerrigan felt that Tyuule too would be able to channel her hatred.

* * *

Kerrigan watched as the chrysalis began to mature. Tyuule had readily agreed to infestation, with no compunctions toward abandoning her old self and embracing her new future as part of the Swarm. Kerrigan had begun to take a liking toward Tyuule, someone who reminded the Queen of Blades of herself. Though her own revenge was still far away, on the other side of the gate, Kerrigan wished to give someone else a chance to do what she herself was not yet able to do. Though Kerrigan would gain no satisfaction from killing Zorzal, it was clear that Tyuule would, and Kerrigan was more than willing to give her new servant the opportunity to finish off the Empire.

The chrysalis opened, and Tyuule emerged, changed from what she once was. While as a Bunny Warrior, she possessed great strength and agility, with the enhancements the zerg provided her power surged to far greater heights. From head to toe she was covered in tough carapace and from her hands protruded long claws, her primary weapon which she would use to rip apart her enemies. Her muscles were powerful, the mixture of Bunny Warrior physiology combined with zerg enhancements creating a deadly combination. Tyuule would be one of the strongest fighters in the Swarm, her physical prowess even approaching that of Kerrigan.

Tyuule flexed her muscles and let out a roar. Her hatred was burning intensely and she was itching to go kill Zorzal. Still she held back the urge as she first went to acknowledge the one who gave her this gift.

Tyuule knelt in front of Kerrigan. "I am your loyal servant, my queen. My life shall be in service of you. Point me to your enemies, and I shall destroy them."

"I shall give you command of this group of zerg in order to complete your task", Kerrigan said. "Destroy the Imperial Capital, and kill the emperor."

"With pleasure", Tyuule replied. "All shall fall before the Swarm."


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

Several days had passed since Zorzal's ascension to the throne. While Zorzal was annoyed with the disappearance of his slave, he had more important things to deal with at the moment. He decided to track down Tyuule after the battle was over and give her a suitable punishment. That is, if she was still alive. Zorzal expected that she would probably be dead if she had left the city. So, the imminent attack on the capital was all that occupied Zorzal's mind.

The citizens in the capital waited for the coming attack with bated breath. The soldiers were both nervous and energetic; knowing that this would be the decisive battle, they would put their full effort into the coming fight.

Finally, the zerg army approached. From atop the walls, looking out into the distance, the entire horizon was filled with zerg. Their numbers blanketed the ground as the tide of creatures began approaching the city walls. The moment that the zerg were spotted, the sentries blew their horns, alerting the city that an attack was imminent. The defenders atop the walls were prepared to defend the city.

The catapults began to fire, shooting large boulders into the approaching zerg force. Despite multiple catapults firing, there seemed to be little effect on the seemingly numberless tide of zerg. Then, several mutalisks swooped in from the skies and attacked the catapults. The crew that manned the catapults were soon killed off by the glaive worms fired by the mutalisks and repeated attacks even caused the catapults themselves to collapse. The archers began to fire at the mutalisks, hoping to bring the flying creatures down, but the arrows did little, bouncing off the tough hide of the mutalisks.

While the defenders on the walls were thrown into chaos by the mutalisk harassment, the zerg ground forces arrived. The large ogrelisks served as a heavy assault unit in the absence of the ultralisks, and they began battering against the gates. Although the gates were made of strong hardened steel, they began to crumble against the assault. Archers tried to target the large creatures, but the weak arrows were unable to penetrate the carapace of the ogrelisks. Meanwhile, the hydralisks fired back, their spines quickly killing anyone who exposed themselves atop the walls. Soon, the defenders weren't even able to poke their head up above the crenelations as whenever they did, a spine would quickly go through their face.

Seeing the situation at the gate grow dire, Zorzal ordered the reserves to be dispatched to the gate to hold back the imminent breach. As the gate broke, zerglings began flooding in, engaging the soldiers waiting behind the gate.

Meanwhile, banelings soon began striking other portions of the wall. The acid melted through the stone and after several impacts, a section of the wall would crumble and allow zerg forces to enter. With multiple breaches occurring all around, and not enough forces to plug all of the gaps, Zorzal ordered the defenders to retreat back to the palace.

The army began an orderly withdrawal, as they fought a running retreat back to the inner city. Groups of soldiers did their best to delay zerg forces for as long as possible to allow their comrades to escape, but they were quickly torn apart by the advancing zerg forces. Although the soldiers tried to lure the zerg into the traps that were set up, the zerg avoided the majority of the traps, and many of the ones that did trigger were ineffective, such as the pitfall trap that zerglings simply jumped out of.

Meanwhile, Tyuule was leading the charge toward the palace, tearing apart any groups of soldiers that she came across. Tyuule cut through groups of soldiers with great speed, with a single swipe from her claw able to tear a soldier in half. Arrows didn't bother her, and the soldiers weren't even able to touch her with their swords as she was simply too quick for them. Tyuule delighted in the slaughter, finally able to unleash the pent up rage built up over the course of several years. The Imperial soldiers didn't stand a chance against her and even when they tried to run, she would chase them down and kill them.

Tyuule came upon a hiding soldier and she quickly moved in for the kill. As she reached him, she realized that he looked familiar. Upon searching her memories, Tyuule remembered who this person in front of her was. She had seen him during Zorzal's war against the Bunny Warriors. When she had entered Zorzal's camp, he was one of the soldiers that Zorzal ordered to restrain her. She remembered how the man had pulled on her ear and stepped on her back as she was forced into a supplicant position facing Zorzal. The memory filled her with rage and she would take it out on the target in front her her.

She ripped the man's hands off before slamming him into the ground. "Do you know who I am?", Tyuule asked.

"N-No", replied the frightened soldier, who was on the edge of total panic.

"You have seen me before. I used to be the queen of the Bunny Warriors", Tyuule said. "You remember what you did, right?"

The soldier's face turned pale white as Tyuule pulled him closer. Tyuule's mouth turned into a grin as she grabbed the man's throat and began slowly choking him. Slowly, the man's life flowed out of his body and Tyuule let the dead body drop to the ground. Then, she exited the alleyway to move onto other targets.

Soon, the zerg reached the Imperial palace in the center of the city. The battered remnants of the army were holed up within the palace, ready to make their last stand.

As the ogrelisks began battering the gates, Tyuule leapt atop the walls surrounding the palace. Landing among a group of soldiers, she struck, tearing through the soldiers around her. The men nearby turned to confront her, but Tyuule was undeterred, throwing herself toward them as she continued her assault.

The walls were a somewhat restricted space, and the men were packed tight as they tried to push toward the rampaging Tyuule. However, they accomplished little with the scene resembling that of a meatgrinder, as bodies when through one side, emerging as bloody chunks on the other side. The defenders broke, seeing the unstoppable force facing them and soon the lines fell into chaos as the soldiers ran away from what seemed to be an unstoppable demon. Tyuule continued to pursue the soldiers and one by one they began to fall.

Meanwhile, the gate was broken through and the zerg forces began flooding into the palace, tearing through the scattered defenders. The front courtyard became a field of corpses as the zerglings tore through groups of soldiers.

Zorzal was within the throne room. As the palace defenses fell, he retreated here with his personal guards and prepared to put up a final stand against the invaders. He, and everyone around him was ready to use the remainder of their lives to take down as many enemies as possible. Then, he heard a crash. A hole had been smashed through the locked doors and a figure stepped through.

As the guards turned to face this threat, Tyuule struck first, leaping in front of one of the guards and ripping his chest open. Then, she kicked the guard approaching her from the right. Her foot smashed into the guard's head, shattering his skull and sending his brain matter across the room. A third guard came behind her, ready to stab her with his sword, but Tyuule quickly spun around and caught the man's throat in a grip before crushing it.

Zorzal watched as his guards were quickly torn apart by the attacker. As the last of his guards fell, Zorzal drew his sword and pointed it at the approaching individual. The attacker seemed familiar, but Zorzal wasn't quite sure who it was.

As Zorzal swung his sword forward, Tyuule caught the blade in her hand and wrenched it out of Zorzal's grip before tossing the sword aside.

"Are you ready to die for what you did?", Tyuule asked.

"Who are you?" Zorzal was hardly able to think straight as his mind was filled with fear. He began backing up toward the throne.

"Really now? You forgot who I am? After keeping me as your slave for several years, I thought you would have a better memory", Tyuule said.

Zorzal was hit by a flash of understanding as he finally recognized who it was. "Tyuule? You are Tyuule?"

"Yes indeed", Tyuule replied. "Took you long enough."

"This is impossible", Zorzal said. "How could you possibly be Tyuule? While you look somewhat similar, she was here just a few days ago. She wasn't one of you creatures. There is no way she was behind the attack on the empire."

"Oh yes, our time apart was indeed short", Tyuule said. "But in that time I have become so much more. Now, you will die at my feet with your empire destroyed around you. Yes, I may not have been with the Zerg in the beginning, but my queen has given me this gift. And I will use it to kill you."

Tyuule tackled Zorzal, pinning him to the ground underneath her. Then, her claw reached down, grabbing onto the area between Zorzal's legs. Her claws dug in and she ripped ripped off Zorzal's penis. As Zorzal screamed in pain beneath her, she began to scratch her claws across his chest, leaving deep gouges. Zorzal began to slowly bleed out from the various wounds that Tyuule was inflicting on him.

Finally, Tyuule gripped Zorzal's head with both hands and began squeezing, with her thumbs digging through his eye sockets. Zorzal screamed as Tyuule's hands dug into his face. As the pressure mounted, Zorzal's skull caved in, splattering his brains over Tyuule's hands.

Tyuule stood up, gazing down at her former tormentor. It was finally over. She had killed Zorzal, the one who enslaved her and killed her people. Zorzal's death gave her great satisfaction, but now that he was dead, she began to feel emptiness. The burning hatred in her heart had begun to dissipate, and Tyuule walked out of the throne room, contemplating her future.

* * *

Around the city, small groups of survivors were being killed off by the zerg, who after eliminating the remaining resistance had turned toward consuming the rest of the city. The people had barricaded themselves inside buildings, but it was of no use as the acid of the roaches was easily able to melt through the walls and an ogrelisk could bash a hole through the structure.

Tyuule saw a nearby building that was busted open by an ogrelisk. As zerglings swarmed in, the inhabitants didn't run like the others. Instead they were armed with various makeshift weapons like pans and brooms. They faced the zerglings bravely, ready to fight to their last breath.

Tyuule recognized these people. The one in the front was Delilah, and the rest were other Bunny Warrior survivors. Tyuule was shocked as she saw her former people in front of her now. She quickly ordered her forces to stop attacking, and the zerg moved away from the house.

As the zerg pulled away, the Bunny Warriors had looks of surprise on their faces as they saw their enemy withdraw. Then, Tyuule walked forward and entered the house. The Bunny Warriors saw the long ears of the approaching figure, which were characteristic of the Bunny Warriors. However, she was clearly one of the creatures as her body was greatly modified. Then, they recognized the face of the approaching individual as that of their former queen Tyuule.

"Tyuule, is that you?", Delilah asked.

"Yes, it is me", Tyuule responded.

Delilah's face morphed into anger. "You traitor! You abandoned us to save your own skin, allowing Zorzal to wipe out our people. We suffered for so many years because of you. Because you were a coward. Or was it that you wanted to whore yourself out to Zorzal? Maybe you just serve a new master every time a stronger one comes along. Like how you decided to submit to those creatures. I guess you are here to kill us now, aren't you?"

"No, I'm not", Tyuule said. "Zorzal lied to you. I surrendered to Zorzal because he promised to spare you all. So I willingly became a slave so that you could live. But only later did I find out that he had no intention of keeping his word."

"He abused me, raped me. I was but a toy to him." Tyuule's voice shook in anger. "For years I was his slave, forced to do his bidding. You know what crushed me the most? When I found out that Zorzal had destroyed our tribe anyways. You could not imagine the shame I felt, the burning regret. From then on, I swore to kill Zorzal and end his empire."

"And that is why I am here today", Tyuule said. "The zerg have offered me a new life. I have taken my revenge, Zorzal is dead now."

For a few moments, the Bunny Warriors were silent as they digested the information they just got. Finally, Delilah spoke. "Well, what are you going to do now?"

"I don't know", Tyuule said. "I will continue to serve my new queen, but I still feel that something is missing from my life. But then I found you. I never thought I would see any of you again, but here you all are."

Tyuule paused for a few moments as she collected herself. "That's why… I want us to be together again. We can build a new life together. Whatever remains of our people, I will take them in. That is, if you would be willing."

The Bunny Warriors didn't know what to say. Just a few moments prior, they had expected to die. Now, they were being offered a new life. It was shocking, and they sat in a daze. At last, Delilah spoke up. "I'll do it. I am sorry for believing Zorzal's lies and hating you all this time. But we can finally be together now."

The rest of the bunny warriors began murmuring their agreement. Then, Tyuule asked Delilah, "Are there any more of our people here?"

"After our tribe was destroyed, the survivors scattered to the four winds", Delilah said. "However, many of us arrived here recently as refugees fleeing from the invasion. We found each other and decided to stick together. I don't know whether there are more."

"I see", Tyuule said. "I will try to find any other survivors. Now, we can be together once more, and nothing will tear us apart."

Tyuule brought the Bunny Warriors back to the hive cluster with her and explained the situation to Kerrigan. With Kerrigan's approval, Tyuule was able to get the rest of her Bunny Warriors infested. Tyuule was allowed to lead her band of warriors, but though she was their commander, she treated them as she would family. In time, they would become an elite force within the Zerg Swarm, skilled at infiltration and surgical strikes, along with being powerful shock troopers. In the future, Abathur was able to create a way for them to artificially reproduce, allowing their numbers to grow.

* * *

Back at the primary hive cluster on Alnus Hill, Lelei was pouring over the information that she had gathered from Rondel. Years of experimental data and theories had been greatly helpful for understanding the nature of magic. For days after returning from Rondel, Lelei had been engrossed in reading the books. It was fortunate that now that she was zerg, she didn't have to sleep and could read all day without rest. In addition, her enhanced senses and mind allowed her to read at a much faster pace than when she was a human.

By now, she was close to being able to create organisms that could use magic, but that project was put on hold as she was busy working on a project for Kerrigan. In particular, she had to find a way to extract Rory's essence and allow Kerrigan to absorb her power. Kerrigan had placed the matter of her personal strength as the top priority, so that is what Lelei was working on.

It had been difficult, as matters of the divine were no simple matter. Still, Lelei had put her full effort in studying Rory and examining the nature of the energy residing within her. After isolating the divine energy and examining its attachment to Rory, Lelei was able to devise a method for Kerrigan to forcibly devour Rory's essence and subdue the divine energy, allowing for its absorption.

Kerrigan entered the section of the evolution chamber where Rory was held, and Lelei had already prepared an organism which would attach itself to Rory to facilitate the transfer. The organism would attack Rory's soul and sever the attached divine energy, allowing for it to be absorbed. Of course, this process would meet great resistance so Kerrigan would have to employ her own power and channel it through the organism. It would function somewhat as a guide to teach Kerrigan this process, as the entire procedure was rather delicate.

Rory was taken out of the containment pod and the organism was attached. Then, Kerrigan began to drain Rory, slicing directly through her soul to absorb the essence contained within. Rory awoke and began struggling as her power was sucked out of her. However, with the restraints still around her, Rory could do little to stop the attack.

Once Kerrigan had finally sucked every last drop of power out of Rory, the apostle's body disintegrated into dust. Kerrigan felt her power surge as her abilities were boosted by the absorption of Rory's essence. Now, Kerrigan wished to capture more of these apostles so that she could grow in power. In later procedures, she would no longer need the helper organism as a guide as she was now familiar with the process herself.

With the operation a success, Kerrigan thanked Lelei. It seems that infesting the young mage was indeed a good choice, as she was already bringing great benefits.

Meanwhile, a god roared in anger within his realm, as he felt his servant destroyed, with the power he granted stolen from him.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

 **Note from author:**

 **Since Gate doesn't provide much detailed information about the gods besides their names, and most of the apostles aren't even named period, I find it necessary to make up some information to better flesh out the setting. So first of all I had to make up names and descriptions for the apostles, as well as to try to give some of the gods a semblance of a personality, but I also had to create some headcanon for how they work. So, my interpretation of the gods is that they live in a distinct realm that is tied to the world but also separate, sort of like how the Void is in Starcraft. Think of the gods as sort of like Amon, except not as strong. Each god has there own divine realm and the grouping of all of those realms is collectively referred to as Heaven (except for Hardy). Gods gain power from the worship of them and their associated concepts. Gods don't typically interfere directly with the mortal plane, and usually the most they do is send instructions to their apostle, which can take care of most problems. In rare cases, a god might descend to manifest in the world, but this takes a lot of energy so gods don't like to do it. And, if somehow their incarnation was destroyed, it would greatly weaken the god for some time. For that reason, gods don't like to employ their full power unless it is truly drastic situation and all other alternatives have been exhausted.**

* * *

Within the divine realms, there stood a towering domed structure. It was a magnificent construction, formed out of what seemed to be well crafted pale white marble. The structure was supported by a ring of pillars surrounding an open area in the center. Eleven figures sat in this place, the meeting place of the gods.

"So, why have you called us here today, Emroy. You may be the strongest among us, but you cannot order us as you please", Deldort said. "I would appreciate not having my time wasted."

"Hmph", Zufmuut, the god of light and order, snorted. "Perhaps he just wants to rub his superiority in our face. After all, his concepts are dominant right now, as war and destruction is currently tearing through the mortal plane. There is no doubt he is positively _delighted_ right now."

"On the contrary", Emroy spoke. "Things are most certainly not going well. In fact, that is why I have called you all here today, to discuss a most pressing threat that is facing the world, one that might threaten even us."

"Please, you don't need to be so dramatic", Zufmuut said. "Most of us had already saw that the mortal world would be destabilized by the invaders from beyond the gate. Did you really have to call us all here to tell us that you have finally stopped being an idiot."

"We need to take action immediately", Emroy said. "The invaders must be destroyed."

A soft voice spoke, coming from the avatar of Wareharun, the goddess of forests. Though her true body was the Great Forest itself, she could still participate in the divine discussions through a projection. "Looks like you finally see the need to take action. What a quick change. I remember that not long ago, I had been telling all of you that we needed to deal with this threat. Those invaders are not like the others who only attack other creatures. These invaders devastate the land and the ecosystem. Their corruption has destroyed countless forests. I told you all before that we needed to do something, but none of you listened."

"Things have become even more serious now, that is why we must do something", Emroy said.

"It is about time", Ral, the goddess of learning, said. "I was quite upset when those invaders from beyond the gate destroyed the city of Rondel which me and my brother Elange built together."

"We did bring up the matter of these invaders when Rondel was destroyed not long ago", Elange said. "But some of you felt that there was no need to do anything." Elange seemed quite irked.

"Their expansion has been shocking", Lunaryur said. "The empire which dominated the surface had been wiped out in a matter of weeks. The entire world has been turned on its head."

"The overturning of empires is a natural thing", Palapon said. "In the other times the gate has been opened, new races have come and conquered the land. Though I do admit that this is a bit more serious than usual."

"Bah, these creatures are unnatural. They morph themselves in all sorts of ways, and they don't even use any tools at all", Duncan exclaimed. He was the god of blacksmithing, and was quite miffed about these new invaders not using tools, and thus having no use for blacksmiths.

After hearing everyone voice their own thoughts and concerns, Emroy spoke. "I am afraid that there is something far more serious about these new invaders. I am about to share information that is most alarming, in fact it is almost unbelievable. The threat posed by these invaders is far more than just damage to the mortals. They come close to threatening the gods. Not long ago, they managed to kill by apostle Rory and take for themself the power I bestowed upon her."

The pavilion was deathly silent as the assembled gods took in this shocking news. It was practically inconceivable; for countless years the gods have stood at the apex of the world, with no one able to challenge them. Indeed, they kept it that way by suppressing the advancement of the mortals. However, now they began to feel fear. If the strange invaders could go so far as to kill an apostle, what more could they do? Even Zufmuut, who would often take any chance to poke and insult his rival Emroy, didn't laugh at the death of Emroy's apostle. Indeed, he didn't make any comment at all.

"How could this be?", Deldort said. "This is impossible, inconceivable. It goes against the natural order."

"To kill an apostle…", Flare muttered. "To truly kill one. What could possibly do such a thing. This goes beyond just blasphemy, this is a direct challenge to us. This isn't a minor problem with the mortals that we just send one of our apostles to clean up."

"Opening this gate was _truly_ a _brilliant_ idea", Elange muttered. "Look at what we have to deal with now. An invasion tearing up the mortal world. Apostles being killed. Who knows what else might happen. We don't even know what lies on the other side of the gate, if there are even more horrifying things out there. I wonder whose bright idea it was to open the gate. Oh wait, don't bother answering, we all know the answer already. It is Hardy. It is always Hardy screwing things up. She doesn't think before doing anything. And she wonders why we don't like to have her around."

"Hardy has really screwed it up this time", Flare said. "She is doing this all for her own amusement. It is us who have to clean up after her. Hardy opens the gate to get something new in the world, something interesting. And she sure has got it this time. We now have something too interesting. We have tolerated her stupid antics in the past because they haven't done too much damage, but this has gone far enough. She is threatening the integrity of the world itself!"

"Emroy, go get Hardy from the Underworld. We are going to have a long talk with her", Zufmuut said.

"Why me…", Emroy grumbled.

"You started this whole meeting", Zufmuut said. "So you are going to have to go deal with the annoying goddess."

"Fine, I will go do it", Emroy said.

* * *

Hardy sensed that another being had arrived just outside her divine realm. It seems that it was Emroy, and he was looking for Hardy. It also seemed that he wasn't very happy about something. Hardy thought about what it might be. She doesn't recall sending Giselle to try to kidnap Rory recently. Maybe Emroy was here about something else other than her constant attempts to steal Emroy's cute apostle.

"HARDY! GET OUT HERE!"

"What is it Emroy", Hardy said leisurely. "What are you angry about this time?"

"The gods are having an important meeting, and you have to come", Emroy said.

"Oooohhh, a meeting", Hardy squealed in delight. "You guys never invite me to those anymore. They are so fun. I can't wait to come."

Emroy gritted his teeth. "We don't invite you anymore since all you do is be annoying and make stupid comments. But this time you need to come because it involves the gate you opened."

"Oh, that thing", Hardy said. "Why are you all so worried anyways. Sure, a bunch of mortals are dying, but so what? It was about time for a shakeup anyways. Having the same groups around is so boring. And these invaders are causing quite the stir. So very interesting. And I have got to say, I think their leader is quite the beauty."

"This is not the time for that, Hardy. Be serious for once!" Emroy was already becoming quite enraged by Hardy's antics.

"Oh, what is wrong with me looking for a beautiful wife?", Hardy said. "Besides, if I nab her then maybe you won't have to worry about me trying to nab Rory anymore."

"I most definitely do not have to worry about that anymore", Emroy said. "Considering that Rory IS DEAD."

"What? Poor little Rory is dead?", Hardy seemed quite shocked. "Did you decide to get rid of her?"

"No you imbecile! This is all your fault. Those invaders you let into the world did it", Emroy shouted angrily.

"But… that isn't possible", Hardy replied. "How could they kill an apostle?"

"I don't know how they did it, but the fact remains that you caused all of this to happen. So now you have to help us fix it."

* * *

Hardy stood face to face with eleven very unamused gods and goddesses. "So… you wanted to see me?"

"Your reckless actions have caused great damage to the world", Wareharun said. "The invaders have defiled the land, torn down the trees and corrupted the ecosystem with their vile sludge. Opening the gate was a terrible mistake Hardy! Look at what you have done!"

"You are always going on and on about the trees", Hardy said dismissively. "So what if some of the trees died. There are always more. You are the only one who is so concerned about them."

"Trees are important", Wareharum yelled. "They provide an essential ecological service and support the existence of much of the life on the continent. Without the trees Falmart would be a wasteland."

"It is not just trees", Flare said. "Those invaders have completely destroyed all opposition. The entire mortal world is going to be overrun."

"There is nothing wrong with a shakeup once in a while", Hardy said. "It makes things more interesting rather than having one group continue to be dominant."

"Do you know what won't be interesting?", Lunaryur said. "When those invaders wipe out all other life in the world. They are destroying the diversity you find so interesting."

"Now Hardy, what were you thinking?", Emroy demanded.

"I just wanted to have a little fun", Hardy said. "The world was getting stagnant and boring. It was time to shake things up a little by bringing in a new group."

"Oh you certainly shook things up", Zufmuut said. "But not in a good way. Now we have an apostle dead and most of the world in ruins."

Hardy seemed somewhat embarrassed. "Well, I didn't know that was going to happen. I did not expect that the invaders would be so powerful. It was something beyond my expectation."

"Of course it was beyond your expectation", Flare said. "You never think about anything. You just go around doing what you want and never think of the consequences. We told you to stop opening the gate, but you kept doing it."

"This is an absolute catastrophe", Wareharun said. "We can't let this happen again. Hardy, you cannot open any more gates in the future. Not after this screw up."

Hardy seemed quite annoyed by this. "But where will I get my fun… I mean, we need to open some more gates to repopulate the continent. The current invaders have wiped out countless species, we will need to replace them with life from other worlds."

"You have a point Hardy, as much as I am loath to admit it", Miritta said. "But that doesn't mean you can keep on doing this. Proper precautions need to be taken to ensure that you don't leave a gate open to somewhere that is too powerful."

"We should reduce the risk as much as possible", Deldort added. "Firstly, I think that we should decide that Hardy can only open a gate if the rest of us agree."

Everyone except Hardy voiced their approval, and though it seemed like Hardy wanted to protest, seeing the angry glares from the others, she decided to stay silent.

"Next, we should have a plan to investigate the other side", Deldort continued. "Firstly, we should have two apostles at the gate when it opens. We will send them through and once they reach the other side, one of them will come back and report whether there is an immediate threat on the other side. If there is, then the other apostle will have to hold them off while the messenger returns. Next, the second apostle will return to guard the other side of the gate while the first goes to explore the surrounding area. Once the survey is complete they will return here to report their findings. Meanwhile, we will be ready at any time to close the gate if there is a significant threat."

"That sounds reasonable", Zufmuut said. "But what if we have to close the gate in an emergency. Won't the other apostle be stranded on the other side?"

"If it comes to such a point, we will have no other choice", Deldort said. "Better to lose one apostle than lose all of them along with the world."

"That seems reasonable", Flare said. "Hopefully we can avoid another disaster when a group that is too strong lies on the other side. Hardy, do you understand the new rules?"

Hardy sighed. "Yes I do."

"Now let us move on to the most pressing matter", Emroy said. "What are we going to do about these invaders right now?"

"They must be destroyed", Wareharun said. "The invaders are a scourge on the land. We cannot let them defile the world for any longer."

"Should we have Hardy close the gate?", Lunaryur asked? "Will that cut the invaders off from reinforcement?"

"No, that won't work", Emroy said. "They haven't even been getting reinforcements from through the gate. The invaders have produced their entire army from scratch. That is what is most frightening about them. Closing the gate will do nothing. In fact, they seem to be getting attacked through the gate, as they have extensive defenses around it. So, it is better to leave the gate open so that they will be distracted. Hardy will close the gate once we have wiped out their armies."

"It will be difficult", Zufmuut said. "Considering how one apostle already fell, we cannot just send them in one at a time. We will have to bring all of our apostles into the fight at once."

"Still, the fact remains that the armies are strong", Flare said. "It is possible that even with all eleven remaining apostles together, they will get dragged down by the sheer numbers of the invading creatures. I don't think the apostles will be able to exterminate all of them."

"I have information that could help", Elange said. "The leadership of these invaders seems to be highly centralized. Most of the creatures seem to be unintelligent and can only follow orders from a commander. I have identified the queen of the invaders. If we take her out, then the entire invasion force will fall apart."

"Awww, but I had wanted to take her as a wife", Hardy said.

"No, Hardy. Stop being stupid. You are the reason we are in this mess in the first place", Ral said.

"Well, we still need to figure out how we will kill her. She usually stays on Alnus Hill, and it is surrounded by several armies. Our apostles will have great difficulty fighting through all of them."

"I may have a solution", Hardy said.

"Speak. It is time for you to start contributing to solving the problem you started", Emroy said.

"Well, I have a few dragons. We can have them carry the apostles to Alnus Hill and drop them off. This will bypass the majority of the armies on the ground. Then, we can have the apostles do a decapitation strike on the enemy leadership. The dragons will also be able to help fight as well.."

"That sounds… workable", Flare said. "I think that it has a good chance of success. With any luck, we will be able to end this threat before it gets any larger."

"I believe that the plan has merit", Emroy said. "I believe we should go through with it."

"That is easy for you to say", Zufmuut said. "You don't have any apostle to lose anymore so you there is no risk for you."

"This is something that must be done", Emroy said. "Would you rather have your apostles be picked off one by one?"

"I shall be sending my apostle to aid in this fight", Wareharun said. "Though it is rare for him to leave the forest, I will impress upon him the gravity of the situation."

"We must all be sending our apostles for this fight. Give your apostles a message to gather where Hardy is keeping her dragons. Once they are ready we will launch the attack", Deldort said.


	12. Chapter 12

**As mentioned last chapter, several of these apostles will have names and characteristics I made up, as the source material is very lacking in detail. Part of the purpose of this chapter will be to better introduce their capabilities.**

 **Chapter 12**

* * *

"Looks like you finally made it here, Granham. Took you long enough", Giselle said.

"Yeah yeah, I had to run a long way. Took me a few days to get here", the apostle of Flare said. "Not all of us have free transportation like you."

"Well, I do love my babies", Giselle said as she patted the two dragons next to her. It is a shame they probably won't survive the coming battle. But apparently all of you need them, and my goddess has commanded that I give you aid since you all need me so much."

"Don't be like that", Granham said. She seemed quite annoyed by Giselle acting so self important. "It is not like I like working with you. I hope you are the first to die."

"Same to you", Giselle said. "That would be one more annoyance gone."

"Are you talking about yourself?", Granham retorted.

"That's enough", Moarg interrupted. He was the apostle of Deldort. "The gods have commanded us to work together to defeat this threat, and we must listen to their commands. The enemy we face is not simple, and they possess the power to kill even us. We must go into this carefully. I know that many of us have feuds with one other…" Giselle and Granham were still both glaring at each other while clutching their weapons. "But we need to put aside our differences for just a little while."

"Fine", Granham spat. "I won't attack Giselle. Not unless she starts the fight."

"Hmph. I am more worried about you attacking me first", Giselle said. "But if even Granham can keep her word, I will too."

"Well, I hope that we will be able to work well together", Mesphr said. "We should cover each other and cooperate to have better effectiveness."

"Hmm… I have never fought alongside other apostles before", Mabel said. "It is very rare for two apostles to fight together, let alone so many of us. Usually, I end up fighting by myself."

"Same", Mortar said. "I doubt we could change our fighting styles so quickly, but perhaps we should try to make a little effort to work together."

"I have experience in cooperation", Ren said. "I have often fought together with my twin sister Rin." The two of them were the apostles of Elange and Ral, two twins who were the god of knowledge and the goddess of learning. The two of them were powerful mages, and as such used magic as their primary method of fighting, unlike most of the other apostles which use strictly physical weapons.

Giselle turned to Mesphr. "That reminds me, aren't you the apostle of the god of music. Couldn't you invigorate us with a song to help us during battle."

Meshpr snorted. "You have been reading too many stories. That isn't something that happens in real life. Besides, I normally fight alone anyways. Why would I learn a technique to support my nonexistent allies."

"But aren't those musical weapons you are holding?" Giselle pointed to the pair of cymbals that Mesphr had.

"Well, yes. They are a musical instrument, and I do use them during ceremonies as an instrument", Mesphr admitted. "But I do not use them for music during a battle. The cymbals are a weapon. I can smash someone in between the two disks. The edge of the disk is sharp and can cut through people. I can also throw the disk to make it a projectile weapon. The best part is that the two disks are enchanted to be attracted to each other, so when I throw one it will eventually turn around and come back."

"Speaking of strange weapons, what do you do with that?", Mortar pointed at Moarg, whose weapons were a pair of long chains.

"These are chains, Mortar", Moarg said dryly. "I would think you would be familiar with what a chain is, considering that you are a blacksmith."

"Well, what good are they in a fight? You gonna tie them up or something?" Mortar seemed to question the efficacy of Moarg's unconventional weapons.

"Think of them as metal whips", Moarg said. "Metal moving at high speeds is dangerous, regardless of what shape it is. Also, I can use one chain to tie up a weapon and strike with the other. This is a weapon that require finesse, Mortar. I know that all you know how to do is swing around that hammer of yours. I suppose that you can't comprehend anything more advanced than smash and bash."

Mortar was immediately enraged by the dig at his intelligence. "Why you little…"

"Well, that is enough talking about that", Giselle said. "We are all together now so let's get going back to the dragon nest. Get on Towato and Mouto."

As the apostles got on the pair of dragons and strapped themselves into the makeshift saddles. At this time, Granham decided to ask a question. "Why are there so many available spots on the saddle? There is enough on one dragon to fit all of us, yet we will be using three dragons."

"That is in case we lose a dragon on the way there", Giselle replied. "If one gets shot down we can jump off and get on another dragon. Even though I am the only one here who can fly, the rest of you are still capable of jumping quite far. Anyways, even if you end up falling, it is not like you will die. So, it should be fine for us to move from one to another. Unless such a feat of acrobatics is too much for you old man." Giselle turned toward Zachariah with her last statement.

"I will have you know that I am just as physically capable as the rest of you", the apostle of Wareharun said. "I might look old but that has no bearing on my strength. Don't mock me. Besides, you wouldn't have these saddles without me."

Zachariah had used his control over plant life to cause the rapid growth of thick strong vines which were used as construction material to make the saddles. So, he was indeed important as otherwise it would be difficult for them to acquire the saddles on such short notice.

"The way you made those plants grow was quite cool", Mabel said. "I never knew plants had so many uses."

"When you live in the forest, you learn to live as one with nature", Zachariah said. "We do not cut down trees for wood to make houses, instead we live inside the trees themselves. We use natural materials to create all of the items we need. I help the people living in the forest. With the powers that my goddess has granted to me, I can morph the plants around me and help create magnificent structures. Where there is life, there is power. You would do well to learn that, young one."

"Hey, you may look old but that doesn't make you older than all of us. Sure, you are older than Mabel, but we all are. There is no need to act like some wise elder", Giselle said.

"Though you may be old in years, you are still a child at heart", Zachariah retorted. "Giving such power to young children only leads to them becoming arrogant and reckless. Wareharun chose me to be her apostle because I had demonstrated great wisdom, something that is only apparent in one's old age. I doubt the rest of the gods choose their apostles using a well thought out criteria. Perhaps you were chosen on a whim, or because your goddess thought you looked pretty."

"You are just jealous because you are an old coot, and the rest of us are great beauties", Mimi said. "Miritta, the goddess of fertility, chose me because of my excellent figure and my wide hips." The young woman seemed quite proud of this fact.

Zachariah sighed. He really hoped that this would be over soon. Dealing with these kids was so tiring. "We should get ready. The sooner we complete the mission, the sooner we can go back to what we were doing."

"We will be leaving tomorrow", Giselle said. "The dragons will have their rest tonight and we will be ready in the morning. Get in, kill the target. Simple."

"I don't see why we have to be so sneaky about it", Mabel complained. "We should just fight our way in."

"Brute force is not always the answer", Zachariah chided. "The foe is strong and conventional methods will not work. Do not limit yourself, you must seek out all possible solutions."

"Bah, I have no need for dishonorable tactics like assassination", Mabel said. "Though I suppose Tris will be in her element. She probably practices such lowly tactics regularly."

Tris was the apostle of Palapon, the god of revenge. The purple haired girl was very quiet and she had spoken very few words to the other apostles for the past few days. Currently, she was spinning around one of her nails, which she used as her weapons. Though they were called nails, they resembled large stakes and were used either to stab or as throwing knives. The taciturn girl usually wouldn't respond to comments, but since she was being called out directly, she finally decided to respond.

"A small strike in the right place is stronger than a large blow to the wrong area", Tris said.

"You don't even fight properly", Mabel said. "You usually sneak around and stab people in the dark. This is not at all what a proper warrior should be like."

"Propriety should not be our concern at this critical juncture", Zachariah said.

"Oh, don't be so gloomy", Mesphr said. "We are definitely going to win; not a problem at all."

As the rest of the group murmured their agreement, Zachariah was silent. While the others had little knowledge of the danger of these invaders, only hearing information second hand from their masters, he had seen them first hand. The creatures from beyond the gate had invaded the forest and corrupted the land. He had been fighting against their corruption by mobilizing the power of the forest, but they had been losing ground. He knew that this mission was to succeed if the land was to be saved.

* * *

The zerg hive was in a constant state of activity, as more and more zerg creatures were born. Also, the Swarm was in a constant state of evolution, which was only boosted by the gains from this world. The great diversity of creatures had provided much interesting essence for Abathur to study, as he incorporated helpful traits from some of the demihuman creatures which had enhanced senses. Also, he had put in considerable work on the Bunny Warrior strain, at Tyuule's request.

Lelei was also hard at work. After pouring through the knowledge collected from Rondel, she was able to obtain a deeper understanding of how the people of this world were able to manipulate psionic energy in such a specific and controlled manner. The framework of their magic system allowed them to direct their power to accomplish complex and delicate work. It was all quite fascinating, but the structured system also limited what they could accomplish. The information Lelei had captured was useful, but still limited.

As a result, Lelei had to do some experiments of her own in order to fill in the blank spots. Another area that had to be investigated was the physiological basis behind their usage of psionic energy. The people of Falmart had little understanding of what allowed someone to use magic, aside from simple generalizations of "usually heritable but can sometimes appear randomly". Since the primitive humans had no concept of genetics or biology in general, they were limited to crude hypotheses.

Fortunately, that was not the case for Lelei, who had now seen a vast field of knowledge opened before her. Nor did she lack test subjects as she had captured countless mages. It wasn't difficult for her to finally isolate the factors that allowed people to utilize psionic power. She also gained additional insight into the basis of spells and how they worked. Some of them were truly intricate, efficiently controlling the flow of energy in such a manner as to enact precise changes on the world. Other spells were cruder, but allowed energy to be stored up before being unleashed, while some formations allowed for multiple people to combine their power.

The only remaining obstacle was to translate the theory into an organism which could actually do what she envisioned. For this, she had consulted Abathur who had come to the conclusion that it was best to modify the overlord strain, which was originally derived from a species of intelligent space faring creatures which utilized psionic abilities. The overlord usually utilizes its psionic powers to extend the reach of the hivemind and to help maintain control over the zerg minions. The overseer strain instead focused its power to perform in depth and careful scans of its surroundings, allowing it to to be aware of cloaked enemies.

The new strain, tentatively named magilisks for lack of a better name, was another adaptation of the overlord strain. The cargo area of the overlord was removed to add in extra brain matter and the magilisks were better armored and could move faster than an ordinary overlord, as they were more important to keep alive. The magilisks were able to cast spells from above the battlefield. Their current repertoire of basic spells consisted of fireballs for basic attack purposes, freezing spells to immobilize enemies, wind spells to interfere with aerial enemies, and magic missiles which could chase down fast moving and agile enemies. They also had basic psionic shields for defense. There was also the possibility for utilizing magical formations to combine the power of multiple magilisks.

All of this would have the potential to revolutionize the Swarm's capabilities, but at the moment it was still in the early stages of testing. While the basic spells were more or less figured out, creating the advanced formations was still a major undertaking for Lelei.

Kerrigan had seen the initial test of the magilisks, and she was quite impressed. Also, she planned on asking Leilei later for some tips on how to better use her powers. It had never been something she had put too much thought to in the past, with most of her efforts being put into what amounted to making a bigger boom. But seeing the more unique applications of psionic power got Kerrigan thinking about how to improve her own control rather than solely focusing on power.

While Lelei was still occupied at the moment working on perfecting the new strain, Kerrigan decided to visit Abathur to see if he had any new developments. So, she went into the evolution chamber where Abathur was working. When she entered, Abathur paused his work to deliver an update.

"Planet possesses diverse essence", Abathur said. "Many useful sequences collected. Have begun making improvements to Swarm."

"How has the work for Tyuule's tribe going?", Kerrigan asked.

"Bunny Warriors high potential strain. Integration into Swarm, useful", Abathur replied. "Have begun finalizing mutation virus. Can assimilate existing specimens. Additionally, possibility for mass production using larva. Will develop."

"Excellent. Now, is there anything you need?", Kerrigan asked.

"Useful strain identified. Collection could benefit Swarm", Abathur said. "Creature known as 'dragon'. Possesses unusually durable scales, can generate high temperature exhalant as weapon. Essence useful. Scouts have ascertained location of creature. Lies in the mountains south of us."

"I'll see what I can do", Kerrigan replied. When the zerg forces had first encountered the dragon, the dragon had managed to escape because at the time they didn't have units that were effective counters to the dragon. The roaches couldn't spit their acid high enough, and the spines of the hydralisks were too small to make much of an impact on the giant beast. In addition, mutalisks weren't very effective since they were geared more toward fighting smaller enemies.

Corruptors, or the now defunct devourers, would have been ideal, but she didn't have access to either of those strains right now, as her Leviathan hadn't kept any on board, and they didn't have the chance to recollect the strains yet. Corruptors would have been able to bring down the dragon when it was in flight. It was a shame that they didn't have any other strong aerial fighters right now. In fact, Kerrigan realized that the Swarm was rather lacking in bulky air forces. Brood lords didn't really count, as they didn't directly fight. The Swarm essentially went from mutalisk and corruptor size directly to Leviathans, with nothing in between. Perhaps collecting these dragons would help fill that niche.

Trying to take down the dragon with the current forces they had available would be rather troublesome, though not impossible. What they really needed was a unit that was powerful enough to take down the dragon, while also being able to attack the air. When Kerrigan was thinking about asking Abathur to create an ad-hoc strain for this mission, she realized that there was a much simpler method. She could simply go herself. It would just be this one time (she certainly wouldn't be going to personally collect every new strain), and she might as well go do something anyways.

As Kerrigan began organizing a small group of zerg to go to collect the dragon, she decided to call on Tyuule to accompany her so that Tyuule could learn some more about how the zerg went about collecting new strains. Kerrigan and Tyuule, along with the group of zerg, went south to where the dragon's nest had been found to be located. They arrived at a dormant volcano where the dragon spent most of its time around. At the moment, it didn't seem like the dragon wasn't there. The zerg took up positions around the area and began to wait.

Fortunately, the wait was not particularly long as the dragon soon returned from going hunting after burning down a few villages. As the dragon approached, the hydralisks began to open fire. Though the attacks didn't manage to kill the dragon, they accomplished their purpose - attracting the dragon's attention. The dragon turned and began to swoop down toward the hydralisks, intent on burning them to crisps.

As the dragon got closer, it seemed to notice that there was something else that it hadn't accounted for. A massive amount of energy was collecting as Kerrigan began preparing a massive psionic blast. The dragon soon noticed the glowing purple energy and decided to pull up. However, as it turned upwards, the massive bolt of energy was released, striking the dragon directly.

When the smoke cleared, the dragon was plummeting to the ground. The attack had ripped through much of its insides, fatally wounding it. The dragon crashed into the trees and flattened a small area. The zerg surrounding the fallen dragon and began to inspect it, as well as guarding against any attacks. Fortunately, the dragon was dead.

The group of overlords brought along for the mission descended upon the dragon's corpse and began wrapping their tendrils around various parts of the dragon. Then, the overlords began ascending, lifting the dragon off of the ground. With the dragon secured, the overlords began to carry the dragon back toward the hive cluster.

Suddenly, two smaller dragons appeared out of nowhere and dived into the cloud of overlords. The overlords suddenly began spurting blood as they were cut apart at a rate that far exceeded what two small dragons should be capable of. Within moments, the overlords collapsed and the dragon's corpse fell to the ground.

Eleven individuals leapt down from the dragons and landed on the ground, totally fine despite leaping from such a high height. At the front was a blue skinned girl with wings. The girl, who appeared quite young, swung around her scythe in her hands and pointed it at Kerrigan.

"Where do you think you are going with that." Giselle seemed quite incensed. "That is my dragon. And you killed it!"

The other apostles unsheathed their weapons while the zerg forces moved into position.

Kerrigan gazed upon the group in front of her. "Apostles, I presume? Well, it was good of you to save me the trouble of finding you all myself."

Giselle smiled. "Same to you. Your death is soon to come. You should have stayed hiding."

* * *

 **I can't think of a good name for the new magic using creatures. If any of you have a better idea, feel free to suggest a name in the comments.**


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

Giselle ran forward, dashing toward Kerrigan in an attempt to strike the first blow. She sliced apart the zergling in front of her using her scythe before leaping ahead, dodging the zerglings trying to surround her. When the roaches launched their streams of acid toward Giselle, she deftly dodged them as she used her wings to weave through the air. However, the hydralisks began shooting at Giselle, the sharp spines rocketing through the air.

Giselle spun her scythe around, knocking down most of the hydralisk spines. But her outstretched wings created too wide of a surface area, and soon the hydralisk spines began tearing through her wings. Giselle was forced to land on the ground to hide behind a rock as she folded up her shredded wings. Then, she emerged from behind the rock and ran past the hydralisks while doing her best to deflect the spines. Still, she was hit several times, but she endured the pain as her body began to push out the spines.

Finally, Giselle reached her target as she dashed up toward the zerg queen, intent on cleaving Kerrigan in half with the scythe. Kerrigan dodged the strike, before following up by spearing her wings forward, cutting off one of Giselle's arms. As Giselle staggered back, a hydralisk which had slithered up from behind used its arm scythes to stab Giselle in the back, slicing off her wings and tearing through her lungs.

Kerrigan stalked forward toward the pinned apostle who was trying to struggle out of the hydralisk's grip. "Foolish girl. You dare to challenge me. Let me show you the error of your ways."

As Kerrigan was about to rip Giselle to pieces, a golden disk sailed through the air, slicing the hydralisk in half before curving back around. Mesphr caught her weapon in the air, before using it to block several hydralisk spines heading toward her. Kerrigan scowled in annoyance, before having to block a sudden strike from Giselle. As Kerrigan tried to order some of her forces to help contain Giselle, she realized that the other apostles were attacking as well, occupying the rest of the zerg forces. The attackers seemed to be doing quite well in fact, with Mortar currently caving in a roach's head with his massive hammer.

"Tyuule, go handle some of the apostles", Kerrigan ordered. "I'll take care of the rest myself."

Tyuule immediately sprung forward, crossing her claws with Granham's scimitar as she forced the apostle of Flare onto the defensive. However, Mabel soon went to Granham's aid, forcing Tyuule to fight both of them. Meanwhile, the rest of the zerg forces were engaged by the apostles. While Mortar occupied the majority of the attention as he used his hammer to devastating effect, Tris was zipping around the battlefield. She killed several hydralisks by driving a nail through their eye socket.

Giselle continued to attack Kerrigan; her scythe swung rapidly but failed to do any damage as Kerrigan was able to parry each swipe with her wings. Then, Kerrigan sent a psionic blast which struck Giselle's chest, slamming her into the ground. Giselle's heavy injuries took her out of the fight for the time being, but that didn't mean that the rest of the apostles were idle.

Ren and Rin were preparing a magical spell, most likely to clear away the zerg minions. Since they were further back, and the other apostles were pushing back the zerg, they were able to prepare their spell unimpeded. A few hydralisks shot at them, but the spines were unable to pierce the magical shield around them.

Sensing the buildup of energy, and recognizing the necessity of preventing the completion of the spell, Kerrigan turned her focus toward the two mages and began unleashing a powerful psionic barrage. Though the two apostles were very skilled and quite powerful, indeed they had been far superior to any of the mortal mages because of the blessing of the gods, however even their shield wouldn't be able to stand up to the attack for very long. So, the twins were forced to back off, breaking off the attack and escaping from the barrage.

Next, Kerrigan began to gather her power in preparation for an even more powerful strike, one that she hoped could take several apostles out of the picture. However, the apostles weren't going to let Kerrigan do as she pleased. While Mesphr tossed her weapons forward, forcing Kerrigan to knock them out of the sky with her wings, Mimi shot forward, tackling Kerrigan to the ground. Mimi used her fists to punch Kerrigan and though the limited room for maneuver prevented the punches from gaining too much momentum, each strike was still able to cause Kerrigan's carapace to crack with each hit.

Kerrigan growled in annoyance when her attack was interrupted, and she dug her claws into Mimi's chest, causing the apostle to gasp as her insides were torn out. Kerrigan stood back up, dragging Mimi up as well with her claws still buried in the apostle's chest. Then, Kerrigan's wings arched back, preparing to rend the apostle into small pieces. However, at that moment, her wings were struck by several magical attacks from Ren and Rin, breaking the wings apart. Annoyed, Kerrigan tossed Mimi to the side, leaving her with half of her abdomen torn out.

Kerrigan dodged the next barrage of spells while her wings began to regenerate, and she retaliated with psionic blasts of her own, forcing the two mages back. However, Kerrigan's attention soon turned back to those in front of her as an old man holding what appeared to be a sharp wooden stick approached.

"You will die today for the crimes your creatures have committed", Zachariah said. "Your creatures shall defile the forest no longer."

"Oh, so you are one of those tree huggers from that place with those moving plants. Well, I suppose I'll have a bit more effort put in on infesting that forest then." Kerrigan smirked at Zachariah. "I will make sure your precious forest is destroyed because of your insolence."

"It shall be you who falls today", Zachariah declared. "I will ensure it."

Kerrigan laughed. "What are you going to do? Poke me with that wooden stick of yours?"

"You shall see that my weapon is no ordinary wood", Zachariah said. "It is a gift from the Great Forest herself. And it shall be the weapon that takes your life!"

Zachariah ran forward, his spear jabbing toward Kerrigan. Kerrigan sliced forward with her wings, knocking the spear aside. She was surprised when the wood wasn't sliced in two by the sharp blades on her wings. When the spear stabbed forward again, Kerrigan turned to the side, allowing the spear to sail past, only inches away from her. Then, with a quick move Kerrigan grabbed the spear with her hands before swinging it around, slamming Zachariah, who was still holding on, into the ground behind her.

Still, Zachariah didn't let go, and forced all his strength into driving the spear forward, but Kerrigan kept a tight grip on the spear, preventing it from moving forward. While both Zachariah and Kerrigan had both their hands occupied, Kerrigan had something else. Kerrigan's wings stabbed Zachariah's body from both sides, embedding themselves in his body.

"End of the line for you", Kerrigan said.

"Not… Yet…", Zachariah said with pained gasps.

Suddenly, a chain came from behind, wrapping itself around Kerrigan. Kerrigan turned around, straining against the grip of the chains. Moarg swung his other chain around, wrapping up Kerrigan's wings and restricting them. While Moarg had trapped Kerrigan temporarily, Mortar was running forward with his hammer. When Ren and Rin had helped kill some of the zerg minions, Mortar was able to disengage in order to join the fight with the zerg queen.

The first hammer blow caught Kerrigan by surprise, and with her being unable to dodge effectively, the attack was able to connect, slamming into her chest. Though her carapace had absorbed much of the blow, the hammer was able to crush the tough carapace over her chest and cave in her lungs. The smash hurt, and the shock of the impact forced blood out of her mouth.

Mortar backed up and raised his hammer for the next swing, with the intent of continuing to smash the zerg queen into the dirt. However, Kerrigan wasn't about to let herself be hit a second time. She pushed back with a powerful wave of psionic force directed toward Mortar, knocking him backwards several meters. Then, she began launching psionic blasts toward Moarg, forcing him to begin running, causing his grip on the chains to slacken.

As Kerrigan began to free herself from the entangling chains, Zachariah struck, using the remainder of his strength to force his battered body forward, driving the spear through Kerrigan's back, right through her heart. Kerrigan screamed as the sharp piece of wood emerged from her chest.

Zachariah slumped to his knees, content with what he accomplished, believing that he had succeeded.

For a moment, everyone was silent. Even Tyuule looked fearful for her queen. Kerrigan was on the ground, clearly in pain as blood leaked from the hole in her chest. But then she grabbed onto the spear and tore it out of her body.

"You think that was enough to kill me, the queen of the zerg? The zerg do not die so easily. Our bodies have evolved to fight even with the most grievous of injuries", Kerrigan said as the wound began closing up as it healed.

While all of this was going on, Ren and Rin had killed most of the remaining zerg minions, and they were now focusing on casting a powerful spell directed toward Kerrigan. Noticing this, Kerrigan turned to attack the two mages, but before she could attack, vines erupted out of the ground, wrapping around her and pinning her to the ground. She saw Zachariah with his hand outstretched, willing the plants to grow.

"Where there is life, there is power", Zachariah said in short gasps. "Nature cannot allow you to live. You will die here… defiler."

Kerrigan clawed away the vines surrounding her, burning them away with her psionic power.

"Petty tricks. If you were in my hive cluster, there would be no plants for you to manipulate", Kerrigan said.

"True. But you are out here, away from your wretched den. Your mistake shall be your undoing", Zachariah said.

"I have just about had enough of you", Kerrigan said angrily. With a roar, she ripped apart the apostle's body with her wings, before frying the remains with psionic lightning.

After dealing with the annoyance, she turned her attention back toward the two mages who were close to finishing their spell. However, now she was blocked by Giselle, who had finished recovering from her wounds.

"You are going to have to get through me first", Giselle said with a smirk.

Realizing that she wasn't going to have enough time, she quickly shouted to Tyuule. "Take out those mages", Kerrigan ordered. "Don't let them complete the spell."

"Will you oppose the will of the gods", Mabel said. "You are originally of this world, why help these outsiders oppose the authority of the gods?"

"What have the gods ever done for me?", Tyuule spat. "Nothing."

While Kerrigan blocked another flurry of strikes from Giselle, Tyuule broke away from her fight, running toward Ren and Rin. Though her hasty move had led to her acquiring several more wounds from Mabel and Granham who were able to get a hit in on Tyuule as she escaped, Tyuule was able to make it through to attack the two mages.

Tyuule tackled Ren, knocking him to the ground and disrupting the spell that was nearing completion. However, the gathered energy, though it was no longer the focused attacked it should have been, exploded outwards. Tyuule was blasted away by the explosion and suffered severe injuries and was forced to retreat to begin healing her injuries.

However, Ren and Rin didn't get off easily either as they were also close to the center of the explosion. Though their magic shields were able to protect them from the brunt of the damage, they were still battered by it.

Taking advantage of the disruption, Kerrigan attacked with a psionic storm, frying most of the apostles. Even Ren and Rin were not spared this time as their shields had been depleted earlier. The psionic storm forced the apostles on their knees as they suffered heavy burns and brain damage. However, their immortality allowed them to survive and begin getting on their feet again.

Kerrigan struck first at Giselle, who was still weakened from the effects of the psionic storm. Giselle staggered to her feet and barely blocked the first swipe from Kerrigan's wings, but another swipe cut off her left arm at the elbow. As Kerrigan stepped forward, ready to rend Giselle into pieces, one of Giselle's smaller dragons swooped down. Earlier, it had been fighting zerglings, but now it returned to save its master.

Kerrigan lifted her wings up to block the dragon's claws and she retaliated by hitting the dragon with a psionic blast, sending it reeling. But before she could finish off the dragon, she was forced to duck to the side as a golden disk sailed through the space that her head occupied a moment ago.

"You missed", Kerrigan said to Mesphr, who was still smiling while holding the other disk.

When Mesphr's reactions didn't change, Kerrigan picked up vague thoughts of satisfaction from the apostle's mind. Sensing something was wrong, Kerrigan quickly ducked down. The disk returned, passing through the air above her head. It sliced through some of her hair as it returned to the apostle's grip.

Giselle took advantage of this chance to attack, cutting off a portion of Kerrigan's wing, but Kerrigan was quickly able to recover and block Giselle's next strike. Then, Kerrigan blasted Giselle back, sending the apostle sprawling.

As a blur came from the side, Kerrigan used her claw to knock aside the curved sword as Granham swung toward Kerrigan's neck. Moments later, Kerrigan jumped to the side as Mabel arrived and stabbed his sword toward Kerrigan. The two apostles attacked again, with Mabel swinging from the left while Granham came in from the right.

Kerrigan caught the two blades in her wings and blasted Mabel backwards. As she stepped toward Granham, several sharp nails shot toward Kerrigan. With a flick from her wrist, the nails stopped midair, and Kerrigan sent them back toward the thrower, impaling a surprised Tris into the tree behind her.

Giselle was back on her feet and she brought her scythe down in an overhead cut, which Kerrigan blocked, locking her wing blades around the haft of the scythe. Kerrigan tugged Giselle to the left, knocking her into Mabel who was once again approaching for another strike. Then, she pulled Giselle in and ripped into the apostle with her claws.

Mesphr had thrown her cymbal once more, but this time Kerrigan simply deflected it to the side telekinetically. When it came back around, Kerrigan gave it an extra push, sending the disk into Mesphr's stomach at an increased speed, bisecting the apostle.

Now, Mortar was coming forward, swinging his hammer at Kerrigan, who released Giselle in order to back up. However, Giselle still had some fight in her and she pulled on her scythe which was still caught in Kerrigan's wings.

The hammer came down, and although it didn't manage to hit Kerrigan directly, it crushed her wings, though it did also hit Giselle in the process. Next, Mortar swung his hammer forward again while Granham slashed her sword from behind. Kerrigan took a step back, narrowly avoiding the hammer and as she stepped back she turned, allowing Granham's sword to glance off as it slid across the carapace on her left side.

Suddenly, an unexpected force came from below as Mimi, having recovered from her earlier injuries in a nearby ditch, kicked at Kerrigan's legs, sweeping the zerg queen off of her feet. Then, Mimi struck, dazing Kerrigan with a punch to the chin. As the next punch came, Kerrigan blocked it with her arm while pushing her knees upward to dislodge Mimi.

A chain swung in from the side, wrapping around Kerrigan's right arm. As Mimi let go of Kerrigan, Moarg pulled the chain, swinging Kerrigan through the air before slamming her toward the ground some distance away. There, Mabel was waiting in position, stabbing his sword upwards. Borrowing the downward momentum from Kerrigan's trajectory, Mabel buried his sword up to the hilt into Kerrigan's chest.

As Mabel dragged his sword downwards, slowly slicing Kerrigan open, the Queen of Blades used her free hand to claw at Mabel who simply endured the damage. As Kerrigan and Mabel were locked in a fierce struggle, Granham, Mortar, and Mimi were all running toward Kerrigan in order to join in the assault. Seeing the other apostles draw near, Kerrigan paused her attack on Mabel briefly before letting out a burst of psionic energy which blasted away Mabel and the approaching apostles.

Kerrigan staggered to her feet as she began regenerating from her wounds. Meanwhile, the apostles kept coming. Kerrigan blasted away Mortar, and parried Granham's blade with one of her wings and knocked the apostle back. Meanwhile, Kerrigan dodged Moarg's chain and turned to face Mimi who was readying a punch. Kerrigan brought a wing down on the apostle, but Mimi caught the wing with her left hand while continuing her punch with her right. The punch sent Kerrigan staggering, having hit the weakened carapace on the chest which was still regenerating from the earlier attack. However, Kerrigan brought her other wing down, forcing Mimi to block with other hand. Now that Mimi had both her hands occupied, Kerrigan reached hear hands forward in order to rip open the apostle's chest. Seeing this, Mimi raised her feet and kicked Kerrigan back while letting go of her wings. While she was able to escape, the wings tore off the apostle's arms.

Before Kerrigan could finish dismembering Mimi, she was forced to jump back to avoid Mortar's hammer. Granham and Mabel had once again gotten close, and they broke into a flurry of strikes, pressuring Kerrigan with the need to parry the multitude of attacks.

Suddenly, a series of screeches sounded through the air as a flock of mutalisks approached. Kerrigan had ordered reinforcements, and a nearby flock of mutalisks, which were among the fastest zerg creatures, were the first to arrive. The mutalisks swooped down, bombarding the apostles with glaive worms.

The apostles did their best to block the incoming projectiles and when a mutalisk got close they were able to jump high enough to kill them. However, Kerrigan made use of this opportunity to press the attack, slicing into Mabel and ripping him apart.

The dragons were back on the scene, flying in to engage many of the mutalisks in combat. The younger dragons weren't as strong as the old dragon, and as a result they were slowly being killed by the mutalisks. However, they were able to occupy quite a sizable amount of mutalisks, which meant there was less pressure being placed on the apostles. Moarg was swinging his chains around wildly, knocking down mutalisks left and right, but his weapons were poor defensively and he was soon struck by multiple glaive worms.

Ren and Rin had recovered from their injuries, and they were now putting their powers into the fight, sending down scores of lightning bolts which began frying through the mutalisks. Meanwhile, a shield protected them from the mutalisks' glaives. Although Kerrigan attempted to turn her attention to disrupt the two mages, Mortar was currently taking every chance to strike at Kerrigan, and it was imperative for her to dodge the powerful hammer blows. With Granham fending off the mutalisks, Mortar was able to focus his efforts on Kerrigan. Kerrigan dodged the hammer strikes and was able to retreat a short distance away. Then, after focusing for a few moments, Kerrigan pushed Mortar away telekinetically.

Suddenly, Giselle dropped from the sky, having flown up before descending toward Kerrigan. Kerrigan met Giselle's scythe with her wings, but Giselle simply kept her scythe anchored on Kerrigan's wings while swinging her body down below the wings, kicking toward Kerrigan's face. Giselle tumbled into Kerrigan and held on. As Kerrigan began using her claws to tear apart Giselle, the pair was enveloped in explosions as Rin had blasted them with fireballs.

Without the two being aware of it, another figure dashed into the smoke. As the smoke began to clear, Tris struck, stabbing her nails into Kerrigan's body at various points in rapid succession. The large nails speared through Kerrigan's joints, the elbows, shoulders, knees, and hips. Though Kerrigan's regeneration would eventually manage to push out the foreign objects, for now they were stuck, preventing Kerrigan from moving any of her limbs.

Next, Granham sliced down with her scimitar, slicing off Kerrigan's wings at the base before following it up with a stab through the back. Lastly, Mesphr, now recognizing that her ranged attacks were ineffective, decided to attack in melee. She began slamming Kerrigan's head with the cymbals, each strike ringing Kerrigan's skull like a bell.

With the ringing strikes from Mesphr giving Kerrigan repeated concussions, the zerg queen was unable to muster up the focus to use her psionic abilities. Her thoughts were knocked into a daze as all she felt was a throbbing pain in her head as her skull rung with each impact. Kerrigan wasn't even able to raise her arms to block the strikes as the nails had jammed up her shoulders and elbows. Meanwhile, Ren and Rin were creating a lightning storm, frying the mutalisks in the area which tried to approach.

Now Mortar was approaching, returning from where he had been blasted away by Kerrigan. With the other apostles holding Kerrigan down, Mortar began to strike. The hammer came down, caving in Kerrigan's abdomen, sending blood splattering across the grass. Mortar raised his hammer once more and slammed it down at Kerrigan's head.

Mortar's hammer crashed down, striking flesh. But it wasn't the flesh he was expecting. Tyuule, who had been recovering in the forest, rushed out at this moment and put herself over Kerrigan. The hammer broke most of Tyuule's ribs, but the Bunny Warrior didn't even show a reaction. Instead, she reached to the side to grab Mesphr, tearing the apostles hands off, letting the cymbals clatter to the ground.

Tyuule grabbed onto Kerrigan and rolled, barely avoiding the next hammer strike which crashed into the dirt inches away. Cursing in annoyance, Granham pulled her sword out of Kerrigan and instead slashed Tyuule, cutting a deep gash in her side. Granham took her scimitar and slashed down once more, but before it could connect, she, along with the other apostles, were sent flying by an invisible force as Kerrigan forced her attackers away with a massive burst of psionic energy.

Ren and Rin began focusing their lightning attacks on Kerrigan and Tyuule but Kerrigan raised a shield that blocked the lightning. Then, the Queen of Blades retaliated with a more powerful strike, a massive bolt of psionic energy which knocked the two mages off of their feet and sent them flying.

As Kerrigan stood up over Tyuule, who was still lying on the ground as her body regenerated from the injuries. Kerrigan had the ability to psionically accelerate the regeneration of fellow zerg with her mend ability, and she chose to use it here, helping Tyuule stay alive.

However, the fight wasn't over yet, as the apostles were already coming back. While Kerrigan had indeed knocked them back quite a bit, it didn't do much significant damage to them. Furthermore, previously injured apostles like Mabel were starting to get back up as their bodies healed enough for them to fight.

Suddenly, a massive roar was heard as a gigantic creature emerged from the ground. The tunneling nydus worm had finally dug its way through to its destination and upon its emergence onto the surface, it began to disgorge a tide of zerg. At the front was Lelei, who had come as soon as possible.

Immediately after arriving, Lelei created a massive barrier of ice cutting off Kerrigan and Tyuule from the apostles. While the apostles began to jump over the wall, Tyuule and Kerrigan were able to begin knocking them out of the air as the apostles couldn't dodge when they were in midair unlike when they were on the ground (except for Giselle who has wings).

As the tide of zerg flooded past, they began to surround the apostles, inundating them with an endless horde of claws, spines, and talons. With some ranged support from Kerrigan and Lelei, the apostles were soon subdued with the infestors covering them with the sticky and corrosive fungal growth.

Kerrigan helped Tyuule to her feet, giving her a look of appreciation, before heading toward the nydus worm along with Lelei. The three of them returned to the hive cluster along with the infestors carrying the apostles. The three dragon corpses were also taken back for study once the overlords arrived.

As the apostles were being loaded into the containment cells, Giselle's eyes lit up and the voice of Hardy poured from her mouth. "Let them go. If you kill them, the gate shall be closed. You shall be trapped here, never to return to your homeland."

After all of the apostles were secured, Kerrigan left the chamber, burning with anger. She did indeed want to return to the Koprulu sector, and the closing of the gate would prevent her from returning. However, the nature of the demand grated on her.

"My queen, are you going to submit to their request?", Lelei asked telepathically.

"Who do they think they are?", responded Kerrigan angrily. "To try to make such demands of me, the Queen of Blades? After they themselves lost from picking a fight with me? No, this is intolerable!"


	14. Chapter 14

**Author's note: In this story, Falmart and the Koprulu sector aren't going to be part of the same galaxy, instead the gate is a bridge between two different universes. So, Kerrigan cannot just make a leviathan and hop back over to the Koprulu Sector. This means that there are actually stakes involved in this fight.**

 **Chapter 14**

* * *

For several days after the apostles were captured, there was seemingly not much happening. The gods were waiting to see whether the zerg would comply with the order. So far, while none of the captured apostles were released, none of them were killed either. So, the gods found it acceptable to wait a short period of time as to allow the zerg to come to make the correct decision, as the gods were quite confident that they would have their way in the end.

Nearly all of the zerg on the world began withdrawing, assembling at the hive cluster on Alnus Hill. While such a move might have been seen as concerning, the gods saw this as a sign that the zerg were preparing to leave the planet. However beneath all of this, great preparation was being made for an undertaking that would shatter the expectations of the gods.

Not long after Hardy had given her ultimatum, Kerrigan and Lelei discussed their next course of action.

"Do you believe that Hardy was making a legitimate threat?", Kerrigan asked. "Could she really close the gate, or was she bluffing?"

"The analysis I had done on the gate suggests that it is a breach through the fabric of the world", Lelei replied. "The gate is anchored and stabilized by the physical structure which keeps both sides of the gate open. While there is some strain on the gate, it isn't very damaging and it is likely that the gate could stay open for many months or even years at the current rate. Very little is needed to keep it open, the main difficulty was opening the gate which required a great deal of energy to do. It likely took a god's power to establish the connection, and it is reasonable to believe that Hardy had the power to do so and she was responsible for the creation of the gate. As for whether she could close it, it is certainly a possibility. If Hardy is the one with control over the power of space, she could disrupt the connection and cause the dimensional corridor to destabilize. Once that happens, we wouldn't be able to move through safely, and eventually the connection will collapse. While a brute force attack would not be the normal method of closing a gate before its time is up, the gods will definitely not care about it this time since damage to the area around the gate from the resulting backlash would not worry them."

"So it looks like Hardy may indeed be capable of carrying out her threat. How troublesome. Would we be able to kill the apostles and get through the gate before it closes?", Kerrigan asked.

"Even if you did get into the gate, there is still some distance to travel before you get to the other side", Lelei answered. "And being stuck inside while the corridor destabilized would be very bad. While it might be technically possible to survive, the chances will be very low. And once the connection is destabilized, it is only a matter of time before the two universes drift apart. Once that happens there will be no way to reconnect. Even Hardy only creates a gate when it is convenient."

"How do we know that the gods will keep their word, and not break down the gate while we are in the middle of moving through", Kerrigan said. "Once we release the apostles we will lose our leverage."

"There isn't anything preventing them from doing that", Lelei said. "We just have to trust that they will keep their end of the bargain. Of course, they probably will because if they close the gate prematurely, then they will be stranding millions of zerg on their planet. Even being feral, it will be a mess for them to clean up. And if they wait until all of the zerg have gotten into the gate, most of us will be on the other side by then and we will only lose a trivial number inside the tunnel. Of course, if they are very committed to killing you, then they might just do it anyways regardless of the trouble they make for themselves. But their spite probably isn't that extreme."

"I am not liking this", Kerrigan said. "Do we have any other options. Is there any way to restabilize the gate?"

"Restabilizing a dimensional rift once it has been destabilized will be very difficult", Lelei answered. "It would require a lot of power, and only Hardy would be able to do so."

"Well then. The answer is clear", Kerrigan said. "I shall kill Hardy, and take her power."

"My queen…" Lelei seemed quite shocked. "Hardy is a goddess. The deities have had absolute power over this world for millennia. Will we even be able to defeat her?"

"These so called gods are nothing more than pathetic creatures drunk on their own power", Kerrigan said. "They have never faced a threat to themselves and cannot even conceive of being attacked. It is time for that to change. Lelei, I want you to find a way for us to attack the gods."

"The gods reside in a separate realm, but one that is very close to the world", Lelei said. "While mortals cannot travel there except through death, the separation is actually quite weak. That is what allows the gods to have such a strong influence on the world as they can project their power and grant blessings to followers. So, it is a matter of piercing through the barrier between the two realms so that we can leave the mortal realm and enter the domain of the gods."

"Then that is what I want you to do", Kerrigan said. "Find a way to make a portal so we can launch an expedition to kill a god."

* * *

The most important task was to actually locate Hardy's Underworld, as they didn't want to be searching for a long time for it. So, Lelei focused her efforts on studying Giselle as the apostle's connection to her goddess could be traced. In addition, Hardy's recent act of connecting directly to her apostle to speak had temporarily made the connection more apparent. Meanwhile, Kerrigan looked through the minds of the apostles to extract any relevant information.

As this was going on, the zerg armies were preparing. The massive buildup of forces, which the gods had interpreted as preparations for a departure, were instead an invasion force. In addition, new strains were being added into the Swarm. After analyzing the dragon corpses, Abathur was able to create a new strain called the Dracolisk. The Dracolisk was a large flying creature which was capable of ejecting high temperature substances from the mouth. Furthermore, it was given sharp claws that could dig through ship armor, allowing it to rip apart smaller ships. It could also damage capital ships like battlecruisers by attacking critical areas. In addition, the Dracolisk was covered in tough armor which could block anti-air fire from guns and even help it survive against missile turrets.

Also, production of the magilisks was ramping up as many were spawned for the coming attack. The remaining problems had been fixed after some testing and now they were capable of casting a variety of spells, allowing them to bombard a battlefield from above.

However, this was only the tip of what could be accomplished. Their greatest power lied in the ability to utilize formations to accomplish wide scale attacks by combining the power of multiple magilisks. The traditional formations used by the mages of Falmart were limited in many ways, which made them not very prevalent. The key issues was that it was difficult to set up, as each participant had to be in a very specific location, and that the formation would break if a single participant was felled. In addition, the formation had to be stationary by necessity, since movement would cause the formation to become misaligned. While several mages in the past had theorized that it would be possible to move in formation if each participant moved at the same speed and direction, this was impossible to accomplish due to the primitive transportation means and the fact that people can't move so precisely. However, the zerg were able to overcome this obstacle. All organisms in the swarm were connected together through the hive mind and could communicate in real time. Slight deviations in trajectory could be corrected immediately before it reached the point where the flow of energy would be disrupted.

Also, a formation could be made on the spot, with the participants being able to communicate with each other instantly. This means that the participants need not be determined until they reach their destination. While a death would normally be crippling to the plans of an ordinary group of mages, the zerg specialized in flood tactics, and this applied even to advanced strains. As such, the zerg would be able to send in a large group, and only a few would need to survive to accomplish their task.

This greatly widened the range of tactical options available to the zerg, and would function as an effective force multiplier which helped increase the effectiveness of other forces. With support from magilisks, the zerg forces on the ground could be protected from air attacks and hard targets could be bombarded.

With all of the military preparations ready, it was finally time to begin the attack. The zerg would devour the gods once more.

* * *

Once the preparations were ready, Kerrigan killed the apostles, absorbing their essence and empowering herself to greater heights. Then, Kerrigan went to the clearing where the portal was to be made. Lelei had finished perfecting the formation which would be able to break through the barrier between the mortal world and the realm of the gods. Now that the foundation was created, all that was needed was the power to create a portal straight into Hardy's realm.

Kerrigan stepped up and began pouring psionic energy into the formation. After several seconds, a crack in space appeared, before growing larger and larger. A path into the realm of the gods was created, and the zerg began to swarm forward.

Meanwhile, the gods were thrown into great confusion. They had been utterly certain that the zerg were going to leave and Kerrigan's decision to kill their apostles had been completely unexpected. Now, the rest of the gods waited for Hardy to make her move. However, Hardy was the most surprised out of all of them. She had never thought that the zerg would be so audacious as to directly defy her. For a short while, Hardy was too busy staring out in shock to do anything. However, she was soon shaken out of her daze when she detected a disturbance within her realm. To her horror, the zerg were pouring in and her realm was being invaded.

The underworld was filled with Hardy's minions, which consisted of all manners of creatures. Demons prowled through the dark land and gargoyles flocked through the skies. There were even several ancient dragons slumbering within their caves. It was a desolate landscape, filled with horrifying creatures and if a human army had set foot here they would no doubt be terrified in the short moments before their death. However, in this case the invaders were a far more terrifying force than the native inhabitants.

The zerg quickly began pouring through the portal, flooding the land with bodies. While normally, one might be tempted to describe the denizens of the underworld as being limitless, it seems that now they have met their match in a clash of numbers. The first wave of zerglings struck the demons swiftly and suddenly, catching them by surprise. Uncountable flocks of mutalisks rushed through the skies, tearing through the scattered gargoyles. Along with mutalisks followed several flights of the newly created Dracolisks.

After the initial strike, Hardy took control of her minions and had them regroup, before sending them forward in a counterattack against the swarm that was still unceasingly flooding into her realm. The attacking demons cut through swaths of zerglings, beginning to take back ground. However, behind the initial rush of zerglings came hordes of roaches, hydralisks, and interspersed ogrelisks. The counterattack stalled, and although Hardy's minions killed scores of zerg, more kept coming.

A trio of massive demons began approaching, carrying thick black swords. They were some of Hardy's elites and they charged into the zerg lines, trampling over many of the smaller zerg while smashing apart ogrelisks with a single hit. As they plowed a bloody swath through the zerg lines, a horde of lesser demons followed through. Several infestors began spraying fungal growth, and although it was able to incapacitate the weaker demon escorts, the elite guards could not be stopped so easily.

Several dracolisks began divebombing the trio of elite demons and through sheer numbers they began to wear at them. The scene somewhat resembled fly swatting as the powerful demons slashed through several close dracolisks, but there were still more coming.

Then, a bright flash soon lit up the air. Several clusters of magilisks hovered in the air, charging up a powerful combined attack which bombarded the area, blasting apart the demons. As the enemy advance faltered, the magilisks began to turn their attention toward bombarding the rest of the battlefield as they began tearing apart the advancing demons.

Hardy had awoken the slumbering ancient dragons which began rising up as they flew toward the zerg. Endless flocks of mutalisks swarmed around the great dragons, stinging them like gnats. However, the dragons didn't make it very far before massive lightning bolts began shooting through the air, striking at the dragons. With a dozen magilisks working in formation, the attacks were powerful enough to seriously hurt the dragons. Following up this attack were swarms of dracolisks which began surrounding the enemy dragons and tearing in.

When the injured dragons fell to the ground, the surrounding zerg quickly pounced, tearing apart the downed dragons. All around, Hardy's forces were in full retreat as the zerg began to overwhelm them. However, even with the zerg approaching Hardy's dark castle, the goddess wasn't too worried yet. After all, losing minions wasn't too crippling as she could casually create more. The only unpleasant bit was that the zerg didn't seem to be running out of minions anytime soon either. However, this wasn't enough to cause concern for Hardy. After all, this was her world and she was at the center of her power base. As this land belonged to her, any invaders would perpetually have to face a threatening environment.

As Hardy began to creating more minions to enter the fight, she noticed something alarming. The zerg were establishing hive clusters and already creep was beginning to spread across the land. It seemed that the zerg were trying to subvert this land and claim it for themselves. As the zerg began entrenching themselves, Hardy decided that it was time to take direct action.

Hardy stepped out of her castle, and with a wave of her hand she sent out a massive burst of power which destroyed a portion of the incoming zerg, buying her minions a brief reprieve. However, the zerg continued to flood in infinitely. As Hardy killed thousands of roaches, several more thousands soon took their place. The magilisks continued to hover overhead, bombarding Hardy's forces with their magic.

Now, Hardy turned her attention toward the skies, sending a dark ball of energy into the air in order to kill the floating fleshbags. A massive explosion surrounded one group of magilisks, but to Hardy's surprise, when the smoke cleared the magilisks were still intact. A flickering barrier surrounded them, a shield collectively maintained by their formation. The synergy from the multiple participants allowed for a shield of impressive strength.

Still, all this did was make Hardy angrier, and this time she used an even stronger attack which was able to overwhelm the shields and kill that group of magilisks. By now, the other magilisks were beginning to target Hardy, striking the goddess with fireballs and bolts of lightning. Hardy continued to retaliate against the flying magilisks, striking them down with her own attacks. Still, it didn't seem like the number of magilisks in the sky were decreasing, in fact the amount seems like it may be increased.

Meanwhile, Hardy's minions were slowly being overrun by the ever increasing flood of zerg. Soon, the zerg were at the gates of Hardy's castle and they began to attack the goddess standing outside. While Hardy would occasionally purge the surrounding zerg, her divine body was still being struck by an endless stream of acid, spines, and claws. At the same time, the magilisks continued to attack Hardy. The goddess used her powers to protect herself, but the constant attacks were beginning to take a toll.

Hardy yelled out toward the battlefield. "You better get your creatures out of my realm!", Hardy shouted. "I haven't closed the gate yet but I will do it. If you don't stop attacking now, I will cut you off."

Even after several moments, there was no response and the zerg continued to attack Hardy.

"I am really going to do it this time", Hardy said. "This is your last chance. If you leave now I will still let you go."

However, the zerg attack continued to be relentless, and Kerrigan made no move to withdraw the zerg. Finally, Hardy recognized that there was no way to get her opponent to back off, and that this would have to be a fight to the death. Hardy struck out with her will, working to sever the connection from Alnus Hill to Zerus.

"My queen, the gate's connection has begun destabilizing", Lelei reported.

"It sure took her long enough", Kerrigan said. "I would have thought the goddess to be more decisive. It seems she isn't really good at making decisions under stress, after all she has never really been challenged before. Well, now that this has escalated, it is time to move onto the next phase."

* * *

Hardy snarled in rage as she disintegrated another cluster of zerg. The assault was utterly brutal, and by now nearly all of her minions were killed. Even as she continued to create more, they were continuously being crushed by the zerg tide. Soon, Hardy herself was being strained by the battle. While her body was unblemished, completely protected by her power despite the nonstop attacks on her person, each strike she blocked cost her a bit of energy. In addition, she was constantly expending energy as she wiped out horde after horde of zerg with her powers. Yet, this was all to seemingly no effect.

She was incredibly powerful, but she had never fought a fight so intensely and for so long. In addition, the loss of her mortal worshippers had left her weakened. Faced with the unending zerg assault, Hardy found herself being slowly drained of stamina as she was forced to defend herself continuously. If she could get a reprieve and rest, she could begin to recover her strength, but surrounded by all of these hostile enemies, she could do little but continue to fight on.

Then, the tide of zerg parted as a singular figure walked through.

"Well, it looks like we finally get to meet in person", Kerrigan said. "Are you ready to die now?"

Hardy huffed. "So you finally show yourself. Are you done hiding behind your minions."

"I'm just here to have a nice personal view as your existence comes to an end." Kerrigan smiled.

Hardy roared in anger as she now turned her attention toward Kerrigan, attacking with a dark bolt of energy which shot toward Kerrigan.

Kerrigan jumped to the side as Hardy's attack sailed past, hitting the zerg behind her. "You are going to have to do better than that."

Now, Kerrigan began to attack, blasting Hardy back with a stream of psionic energy. Hardy wasn't stunned for long though and she soon retaliated with a massive torrent of energy focused toward Kerrigan. The dark energy struck the shield Kerrigan had raised, and despite Hardy pouring in all of her effort, Kerrigan was able to hold the attack back. During all of this, the zerg continued to attack Hardy, now able to focus on the goddess without impediments while Hardy was occupied fighting Kerrigan.

Once Hardy finally ceased her attack, Kerrigan immediately followed up with a concentrated psionic storm, many times more potent than an ordinary psionic storm. The stream of psionic lightning struck Hardy, tearing at the shield surrounding the goddess's body. While Hardy wasn't actually hurt by the attack, it was clear that she was coming under a lot of strain at the moment.

Now, the desperate goddess decided to charge directly toward Kerrigan and handle the fight in close range. As Hardy dashed in, Kerrigan met her by slashing forward with a wing which Hardy blocked with her arm. Then, Hardy unleashed a blast of energy from her palms, striking at Kerrigan's chest. Kerrigan blocked the attack, though it did lead to her being thrown backwards. However, she landed on her feet and immediately struck back at Hardy, slamming the goddess with a psionic blast.

Then, Hardy ran forward again, but this time Kerrigan caught Hardy's arm and twisted the goddess onto the ground. Kerrigan pinned Hardy into the dirt and focused an intense current of psionic lightning toward the exhausted goddess. Hardy struggled to escape from the devastating attack, but Kerrigan kept a firm grip and soon Hardy started screaming in pain as the psionic lightning began leaking through the cracks of her rapidly failing shield.

Kerrigan's wings extended outwards and began glowing purple as she channeled psionic energy into the blades. Then, Kerrigan brought her wings downward, slicing into Hardy's body. Hardy let out a low moan, and Kerrigan began drawing out the essence from the goddess. As Hardy slowly died, Kerrigan absorbed the goddess's strength, adding it to her own. Kerrigan could feel the power coursing through her body as she finished collecting Hardy's essence, leaving herself stronger than ever before.

Now, it was time to deal with the issue of the gate. Kerrigan and her zerg departed from the former realm of Hardy, leaving behind a completely devastated land. After returning to the mortal realm, Kerrigan examined the state of the gate. The spatial rift was chaotic as it fluctuated in shape and size. Already, the tear had become out of control as it stretched several kilometers long. Cosmic energies leaked from the rift as the passage was filled with chaotic energies. No one could pass through such a thing.

However, despite it seeming to be an untamable beast, the rift could be brought under control. Using her new power, Kerrigan began to seize the chaotic rift and suppress the disintegration. Then, with an influx of power she solidified the boundaries and locked it in place. As the leaking energies began to dissipate, the new gate emerged. It was not an elegant structure like the previous gate. Instead, it was an amorphous, though stable corridor stretching for kilometers on end.

The tremendous expansion of the rift was unexpected, a result of the chaotic nature of the destabilization as a greater hole had been torn in the dimensional barrier. No longer was the gate a narrow tunnel where only a small amount of material could pass through. This passage was very wide and stretched over a large area of land. And this vast increase in the capacity soon drew the attention of the primal zerg on the other side. Their path to a new world which had been blocked, was now wide open.

Hardy's death had sent reverberations through the world of Falmart, and soon the gods felt something they had never felt fear, fear far greater than anything they have felt before. The gods were now in complete panic. With their death now a distinct possibility, they needed to take drastic actions.

* * *

 **Well, once it's time to go into the void to fight Amon, it will be a familiar experience. Except with an ugly space whale instead of a pretty goddess.**

 **Original Xel'naga: We are gods.**

 **Overmind: Munch munch.**

 **Hardy and co: We are gods so you have to do what we tell you to do.**

 **Kerrigan: Yeah no.**

 **Amon: I am a god, I am invincible!**

 **Kerrigan: Not this again...**


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

The passageway between the two worlds had been stretched open following the disturbance wrought by Hardy. The result was that the once narrow opening between the two worlds expanded to cover a great deal more area. While the gate had initially been surrounded by significant defenses, preventing the primal zerg from moving through, the new gate was now indefensible.

The primal zerg held evolution to be their utmost priority, and the competition over essence was the focal point of life on Zerus. Thus, the potential of an entirely different world, filled with essence never before seen on Zerus proved to be an irresistible lure. All of the major packs on Zerus moved to invade the new world, and there would be nothing that would deter them. The gate would not be monopolized, not only was it now impractical to do so, none of the packs would stand to allow a rival to reap all of the benefits. The only reason why no one had contested Yagdra's control of the gate previously was because there was no way to make use of the gate at that time. But now that the new world was open to all, it was time for a massive scramble.

Soon, the disparate groups of primal zerg began flooding into Falmart. While the major packs led by Kraith, Yagdra, and Silvan composed the majority of the group, there were even smaller packs involved in the action. Of course, none of them were cooperating, it would be the strongest who would gain the most benefits. Such was the law of Zerus.

Meanwhile, the zerg armies were currently returning from their battle against Hardy. As the primal zerg began to invade, the available zerg forces reacted, clashing against the primal invaders all across the length of the new dimensional rift. However, there were some primal zerg that had escaped in the initial chaos and some small packs ran off to other areas of the continent.

However, the fighting was mostly concentrated in three areas. Currently, the three great pack leaders were locked in a vicious struggle to break through the Swarm's forces. Each of the pack leaders were quite powerful and since they were backed up by a significant amount of their own forces, they were placing quite a large strain on the Swarm's defenses. In order to break this deadlock, Kerrigan decided to take to the field and crush these pack leaders.

The first pack leader who had made it through the gate, and thus the one who had made the greatest inroads, was Yagdra. The large worm like creature was currently towering over the battlefield, spitting out flaming streams of corrosive acid which carved swaths through the Swarm's armies. Yagdra used these streams of acid to divide the Swarm's forces and force them to separate. Meanwhile, Yagdra's pack was taking advantage of these gaps to rush in and surround their enemies.

Then, Kerrigan arrived, along with a group of reinforcements. As Kerrigan's forces began to push back Yagdra's assault, the primal pack leader spoke to Kerrigan. "You seek to fight me? You have run from me before. You shall fall before my power."

"You will be the one falling this time", Kerrigan replied. "You were lucky back on Zerus. Now that you have met me again, your death is assured."

"Leader of the broken pack. You are nothing! I shall melt the flesh from your bones." Then, Yagdra spat out a large burst of flaming acid toward Kerrigan.

The acid slammed into the ground, burning a deep crater into the dirt. However, Kerrigan had avoided the hit, quickly dashing forward to dodge it. Yagdra continued to spit his acid through the air, with each burst burning through large clumps of zerg. However, Kerrigan remained elusive as she weaved in and out between the globules of fiery acid, all the while moving toward Yagdra.

Some of Yagdra's pack moved forward to intercept Kerrigan, hoping to pin down the zerg queen so that Yagdra could focus his attacks on her. But the Queen of Blades wasn't such an easy target. Yagdra's forces were barely able to approach before Kerrigan tore them to pieces, her psionics augmenting her speed and allowing her claws and wings to tear through the primal zerg like a hot knife through butter.

Kerrigan was almost in front of Yagdra, and in a panic, the primal pack leader spat out a burst of acid at point blank range, believing that even Kerrigan wouldn't be able to dodge the attack with so little time. However, to Yagdra's shock, Kerrigan simply formed a psionic barrier which absorbed the momentum of the attack and caused the acid to drip off to the sides.

Then, Kerrigan struck at Yagdra, shooting a psionic blast toward the massive worm. Yagdra screamed in pain as the blast carved out a large section of flesh from his body.

Suddenly, Yagdra was gone, with only a hole in the ground showing where he once was. In his place were several large eggs that Yagdra had laid. Those eggs hatched, spawning more of Yagdra's children who immediately began to attack Kerrigan. These newly created minions didn't have a very long life though, as a psionic storm from Kerrigan quickly tore them to shreds.

In the distance, Yagdra had resurfaced, and was now taking his time to ready another attack. Yagdra began spitting out a long continuous stream of acid, burning the entire area between him and Kerrigan. This time, Kerrigan was forced to dodge to the side to avoid the long stream of acid. However, the attack wasn't done yet as Yagdra began to turn while continuing to spit his acid. The attack cut a flaming arc across the battlefield as Yagdra'a attack began burning a circular region, destroying all of the zerg within.

Even as Kerrigan moved away from the line of fire, it began to approach her as the line of fire began to catch up. Because of the nature of the attack, the stream moves faster the farther away it is because a constant angular velocity is maintained. The farther away from the center one is, the faster one would have to run to avoid the attack. Since Kerrigan had to spend all of her effort moving away from the approach of the flaming acid, she did not have a chance to move closer to Yagdra where the speed at which the line moved would be slower.

As the acid was on the verge of reaching Kerrigan, Yagdra thought that he would finally able to win. However, Kerrigan suddenly turned around and dashed through the stream of acid. Within moments, she had passed through the stream of acid, remaining unblemished by protecting herself within a shield of psionic energy. With Yagdra in shock, scrambling to try to adjust his attack, Kerrigan took the chance to run toward Yagdra. With the area left desolate after Yagdra's attack, there was nothing to block her way.

Kerrigan dashed straight toward Yagdra, her body enveloped in psionic energy to enhance her speed and cutting power. Yagdra brought up his large tusks to block as Kerrigan rocketed straight toward his body, but Kerrigan was able to cut straight through and tear a hole through Yagdra.

The heavily injured pack leader attempted to retreat underground once more, but this time Kerrigan was ready for it and she dragged Yagdra up psionically, preventing him from diving under. Then, with a massive blast she killed Yagdra. As Yagdra's corpse slumped onto the ground, his pack began fleeing, leading to them being cut down by the pursuing zerg. Meanwhile, Kerrigan absorbed Yagdra's essence.

With the destruction of Yagdra's brood, Kerrigan's Swarm was able to reclaim control over this area of the gate. However, this didn't mean the fight was over. Next, Kerrigan turned her attention to Kraith.

Kraith's pack was making swift progress as they barged through the lines of zerg that were sent to fight them. Kraith, who resembled a large hedgehog, charged through the lines of roaches and hydralisks, tearing them apart easily. His large bulk and his thick carapace allowed him to brush away the attacks of the smaller zerg units. Once he crashed through the zerg fighting him, his numerous pack flooded in to destroy what was left. The offensive was strong and the Swarm's lines were being broken through quickly.

When it seemed that the situation was becoming difficult to deal with, Kerrigan arrived to challenge Kraith. Rather than be annoyed by being impeded, Kraith was actually happy for the new challenge. Crushing the weaker zerg was trivial for him and it did not provide him with the enjoyment of a real fight. But now, he could sense that Kerrigan was powerful, and that just made him even more eager.

"I feel your strength", Kraith said. "You will be worth killing. Worth the blood!"

"The only one whose blood will be spilled here is yours", Kerrigan replied.

"Haha. You have spirit. This fight will be glorious", Kraith said. Then, he charged forward, trampling over smaller zerg as he moved toward Kerrigan.

Kraith moved in a straight line, having a completely predictable path. It was simple for Kerrigan to jump to the side, allowing Kraith's momentum to carry him past her. As Kraith passed, Kerrigan hit him with a psionic blast, breaking off some of the spines on his back.

"Face me!", Kraith roared angrily. "Do not run away like a coward." As he said this, Kraith lumbered forward toward Kerrigan. "A thousand cuts shred the flesh!"

As Kraith opened his mouth, thousands of sharp spines began shooting out at hypersonic speeds. The spines covered the area, shredding zerg minions to pieces, both his and Kerrigan's. When the projectiles impacted the ground, they knocked up dust and left deep holes. In the center of all of this was Kerrigan. Kraith continued to shoot at Kerrigan and the entire area was soon obscured by the green fog used as an accelerant by Kraith.

Finally, the barrage of spines stopped as Kraith ran out, needing his body to synthesize more. As the fog cleared, Kraith was shocked to see Kerrigan still standing, and showing no signs of damage. None of the spines had reached their target as Kerrigan shielded herself psionically and used her vast power to deflect all of the incoming projectiles.

"Is that all you got", Kerrigan said with condescension. "I would have thought that you would be able to do better." She strode forward toward Kraith, seemingly mocking Kraith by having an uncaring attitude while her body didn't have a single scratch on it.

Seeing this, Kraith was enraged. "DIE! DIE! Minions, kill her!"

Kraith began charging toward Kerrigan while his minions came in, surrounding Kerrigan on both sides to cut off her path of retreat. But she made no move to escape and simply stood there as Kraith approached.

Just before Kraith could reach her, Kerrigan burrowed, diving into the ground and allowing the large beast to step over empty ground. A moment later, she unburrowed and launched a large blast of energy above her as she came out of the ground, striking Kraith's underbelly.

The blast knocked Kraith upwards, flipping him over while leaving a deep gouge in his body. Kerrigan leaped up and landed on top of Kraith. She began tearing into his body with her wings and claws as Kraith screamed in pain while trying to get back on his feet. However, his struggles weakened and soon stopped as Kerrigan ripped through his insides. Once Kraith died, Kerrigan absorbed his essence while the fight continued around them.

Kraith's pack had taken losses when they broke away from their fight to focus on Kerrigan. Furthermore, they had gathered in one place and as such were now surrounded by Kerrigan's zerg. With Kraith dead, they had no way of breaking out of the encirclement and soon Kerrigan's Swarm was able to kill off the last of Kraith's minions.

There was just one more primal pack leader left. Currently, Silvan was walking among her forces as they began pushing against the Swarm. While she was nowhere as fast as Kraith, her advance has been slow but steady. Endless waves of creepers spawned from her back, and those creepers ran in and exploded, spraying their acid over their enemies. The creepers were highly effective against the clumped zerg forces, and their sheer numbers were wearing away at the defenders.

However, with the other two pack leaders defeated, Kerrigan was free to mobilize her armies against Silvan. As the reinforcements came in, they were able to shift the tide, even managing to destroy the waves of creepers. Then, Kerrigan arrived to personally deal with Silvan.

There was still a multitude of creepers surrounding Silvan, and the large green pools of slime that covered the battlefield was slowly down the advance of Kerrigan's zerg. But Kerrigan simply decided to leave her slow armies behind and have them pin down the remainder of Silvan's pack rather than rush in to take heavy damage from Silvan's acid sprays while trying to attack the pack leader..

Instead, Kerrigan dashed in toward Silvan, slicing apart creepers before they could explode. She would slice through an entire group and be gone the next moment. Kerrigan cut a swath through the minions between her and Silvan, quickly reaching the large primal pack leader.

"Welcome… to your demise", Silvan said as Kerrigan approached.

Silvan was surrounded by creepers which covered every inch of the ground. Seeing this, Kerrigan let out a psionic storm, quickly tearing apart the creepers. An enraged Silvan began vomiting acid toward Kerrigan, launching a thick stream of slime toward her. Kerrigan quickly dodged the stream of acid before slicing at Silvan, cutting off one of Silvan's legs.

As Silvan tumbled to the ground, her back began bulging with eggs that soon dropped to the ground, covering the area with more creepers. Kerrigan snarled in annoyance as she began slicing through the creepers, but with so many of them they soon covered the ground with the green acid. Kerrigan waded through the sticky slime, heading toward Silvan's head.

As Kerrigan approached, Silvan spewed out her acid vomit, coating Kerrigan with the thick sludge. The highly corrosive acid covered Kerrigan, beginning to eat into her body. While an ordinary person would have died within moments, the Queen of Blades was anything but ordinary. While the acid began to eat into her flesh, Kerrigan's armor combined with her psionically enhanced regeneration kept the acid from making much progress. Rather, the attack simply made Kerrigan angry.

Kerrigan walked through the large pool of acid surrounding Silvan. The acid was ubiquitous and could not be avoided. But Kerrigan, ignoring the disgusting green substance burning into her skin, walked toward Silvan and unleashed a stream of psionic lightning powered by her rage. The attack struck Silvan, quickly tearing into the pack leader. Within moments, Silvan slumped down, dead. Her back no longer produced creepers and instead lay barren.

Kerrigan stepped on top of Silvan's body, which laid within the large pool of acid. First, Kerrigan burned the slime off of her skin by pouring psionic energy outwards. Then, she absorbed Silvan's essence. Without any more backup from the creepers, Silvan's pack was quickly defeated.

Even once Silvan died, there was still more primal zerg out there, some from various smaller packs. With the main forces dealt with, Kerrigan sent her zerg to scour the countryside and purge the remainder of the primal zerg.

* * *

The gods watching over Falmart were in heavy debate over how to deal with the situation.

"These zerg must be destroyed!", Flare said. "We have seen Hardy die already. While I do not grieve for her, and indeed I rather like that she is gone now, Hardy's death shows that the zerg are a danger to us all. We will be next if we do not kill Kerrigan."

"And what do you suggest we do?", Duncan asked. "Our apostles failed and are now dead. There is no force on this world that can defeat her."

"Then we must look outside this world", Palapon said. "Perhaps one of Kerrigan's enemies from the other side of the gate will be able to kill her."

"Would this not just be letting in a wolf into our home", Zufmuut said. "What is to say that they do not become another threat."

"We can bind them to us as we would an apostle", Deldort said. "Make them dependent on us for their strength."

"Do you mean to make one of them into our apostle?", Emroy asked incredulously.

"Yes", Deldort replied. "Indeed, it will be something that has never been done before. We gods grant power to a follower to make them an apostle. But if we give our gifts to a single individual, then that person shall be powerful beyond all measure."

"That is interesting…", Zufmuut said. "But what is to stop them from turning on us."

"If they do so, we can take away our blessings", Deldort said.

"This is risky", Flare said. "But it is probably our best option at this point. Now, who should we choose."

"There is a lot of fighting going on down there", Emroy said. "But all of them seem rather weak. Even with our help it is doubtful whether they can succeed."

"There is one other that is there. A powerful being", Elange said. "We can reach out to him and persuade him to fight for us."

* * *

Zurvan, the Ancient One, was gazing out over this new land. For millennia he had been stagnant on Zerus. But this was a land of opportunity, a chance for change. He saw the primal pack leaders fall to Kerrigan. The zerg queen's power was great, and Zurvan desired her essence. It was time.

Just before Zurvan took action, he received a vision.

"Greetings, great one. I am Emroy and I represent the gods of this world. And I come to you with a… proposition of mutual benefit."

"What is your goal", Zurvan said. "Speak clearly and directly. I have no patience for time wasters."

"We can give you power, as long as you are willing to obey us", Emroy said. "We can give you power that will set you far above the zerg queen and allow you to defeat her."

"I have seen your kind before", Zurvan said. "You who call yourselves gods. Your words are like honey but it is nothing but a trap. Gods never bring anything good with them. You might be able to trick one of those youngsters, but not me. I have seen much and I will not be enslaved."

"We are not trying to enslave you", Emroy said. "You can trust us."

Zurvan let out a low laugh. "Do you think I was born yesterday? They call me the Ancient One for a reason. No. I will have nothing to do with you. My strength is my own; and it is earned solely through my own power. Begone now."

"You will never win without us", Emroy said.

"I said… BEGONE", Zurvan roared angrily.

Finally, Emroy withdrew, leaving Zurvan alone. Emroy's words did not shake him. He would fight. And his triumph would be build on the basis of his own strength. The time for evolution has come. He burrowed underground and began moving toward Kerrigan. The power, the overflowing essence was like a bright beacon to him. Soon, he would fight.

Zurvan burst out of the ground in front of Kerrigan. His large body blocked the path forward while his large tendrils snaked around behind.

"Zurvan, long time no see", Kerrigan said.

"It is time", Zurvan said. "You are zerg. Your essence overflows with power."

"Yes, it does", Kerrigan says. "I have obtained far more power than you ever could. You are no match for me. Are you really going to fight me?"

"I… I thirst. You will feed my evolution, the first in millennia", Zurvan said.

"Then you are going to die", Kerrigan said. "Looks like you don't know when to back off."

"No others can feed my evolution", Zurvan said. "Cowardice will lead to stagnation. Stagnation leads to death. Fighting must occur. Change is inevitable. This is the law of Zerus. The time for waiting has ended and the time for boldness has come."

"Kill or be killed, I suppose. Very well then, you will have your fight", Kerrigan said. "Are you prepared to die?"

"The weak die, the strong survive. If I die, then there is nothing to blame but my own weakness. If I win, then I gain everything. One will be consumed and become something greater than either. This is the heritage of the zerg!", Zurvan said.

Zurvan was the first to strike. His gigantic tendrils began slamming down against the ground, creating large clouds of dust with each hit. Kerrigan nimbly dodged each of the tendrils, jumping from one place to another moments before the massive piece of flesh hit.

Meanwhile, Kerrigan attacked Zurvan, shooting psionic blasts at him. Despite being under pressure from the constant attacks from Zurvan's tendrils, Kerrigan was able to continuously deal damage to Zurvan, leaving numerous wounds across his massive body.

Then, Zurvan's mouth opened, sending out a stream of his own minions. The minions surrounded Kerrigan and began to attack. Kerrigan dodged the attacks of Zurvan's primal hydralisks. Then, she counterattacked with a psionic storm, frying Zurvan's minions.

However, this moment of being preoccupied with the minions allowed Zurvan to land a strike. His massive tendril, slammed into the ground, crushing Kerrigan beneath it. But when the tendril lifted, Kerrigan only seemed moderately annoyed. Though her wings were broken, her body was able to withstand most of the damage. Moreover, what minor wounds she sustained were already beginning to regenerate..

Kerrigan stood back up and this time she began to target Zurvan's tendrils. She dashed toward the one which just struck her and sliced forward with her wings. Though the tendril was thick, by psionically enhancing the sharpness of her wings she was able to slice through the entire thing with only a few swift strikes. As the other tendrils began coming toward her she leaped out of the way, landing on another tendril which she then destroyed.

One by one, Zurvan found his limbs being destroyed by Kerrigan who proved to be too agile for him to pin down. The Queen of Blades was swift and brutal and she made quick work of the rest of Zurvan's tendrils.

At this point, Zurvan got onto his feet, lifting himself up until he towered over Kerrigan. Then, his mouth opened, and from it streamed forward intense beams of orange energy. As the orange energy shot down toward Kerrigan it soon stopped as it was blocked by the psionic shield Kerrigan was maintaining.

Zurvan was undeterred and he continued to pour his energy into the attack. However, engaging in a battle of psionics with the Queen of Blades was a grave mistake. Despite putting in all of his energy, Kerrigan had more than enough power to continue to protect herself against Zurvan's attack. Finally, the assault ended as Zurvan was unable to maintain it.

Now, Kerrigan struck. She jumped into the air and charged up her attack. She unleashed a massive bolt of energy which burnt a massive hole into Zurvan's body. Zurvan slumped to the ground as his life began to drain out from his mortal injuries. Kerrigan walked up to Ancient One as he died.

"You have won…" Zurvan said. "You are stronger. You will take my essence and reach greater heights. My journey ends now, but yours is just beginning." Zurvan let out a gasp as he reached his last moments. "Your power shall be unmatched. You are the true embodiment of the will of Zerus."

Finally, Zurvan died. Kerrigan absorbed the essence from her defeated opponent. She had defeated the greatest of the primal zerg and she now stood at the pinnacle of what Zerus had to offer her. Yet, there was one other world, and she was not done claiming its power yet.

* * *

Dehaka was roaming the continent. After traveling through the gate and escaping from the Swarm in the confusion created by the fighting, he and his pack were able to make their way into the world. The land was filled with strange creatures he had never seen before. He couldn't wait to being taking their essence.

Suddenly, he found himself receiving a vision as Emroy spoke to him. "You desire power, yes? I can offer it to you. You shall gain strength beyond all that you could imagine. All you have to do is kill the queen of the swarm."

"Is that all?", Dehaka asked. "You shall give me power, and in exchange I fight your enemies for you?"

"Yes, as long as you fight for us, you shall be rewarded", Emroy replied.

"Very well then. I shall accept this power", Dehaka said.

Dehaka felt vast power entering his body as each of the gods began granting him a portion of their strength. He could feel his body grow and his ability to collect essence become much greater. In a single stroke, Dehaka gained strength that would eclipse any of the former pack leaders of Zerus.

However, Dehaka knew that this power came at a cost. Even before taking the offer, he knew that there would be a catch. This power was not his. He could sense how it was separate from the rest of his essence. He could not absorb it and he could not modify it. But even knowing all of this, Dehaka was pleased.

After all, this would greatly increase his ability to collect essence. And once he killed the queen of the new pack, he would gain far more power. And that power would be his to keep. Even if the gods took away their gifts, he would still benefit. Still, he found it amusing how the gods were trying to control him. To think that such pitiful measures were enough to contain him. Once he was done with the coming fight, he would find a way to forcibly take the essence for himself, ripping it from the control of his so called masters.

Yes, everything was going just fine, Dehaka thought to himself.


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

Dehaka chomped down on another hydralisk and swallowed it. This was just one of Dehaka's many victims after he went on a rampage. After receiving his new powers, Dehaka immediately went to devour his enemies. Upon discovering a patrol of zerg, he immediately set upon it with his pack, tearing into them swiftly and brutally.

While they would have had difficulty fighting off the Swarm before, with Dehaka's new enhancements he was able to rip through his enemies and consume them. Already, Dehaka had swelled in size, becoming significantly larger than even an ultralisk. Dehaka was able to fight to his heart's content, crushing his enemies before him and collecting their essence, continuously growing. He had already defeated several groups, and he was confident that his main target would arrive soon.

Initially, it had been somewhat of a surprise to Kerrigan when her forces reported being attacked by a powerful primal pack leader. She had thought that all of the powerful primal zerg were already dealt with, but it seems that there was one who had slipped past. He must have kept a low profile if none of the other pack leaders were aware of such a powerful individual. Nevertheless, in Kerrigan's view it was just one more annoyance to deal with. So, she took some of her zerg and went to confront her next enemy.

Dehaka had just finished up killing another group of zerg when he felt a powerful presence approach. He turned away of his recent kills and looked up toward the approaching figure.

"Finally. You have come. Now I shall collect your essence", Dehaka said.

"Oh, you think you can defeat me?", Kerrigan said with condescension. "All of the other pack leaders of Zerus have already fallen to me. So you think that you can win? You aren't even important enough for Zurvan to have mentioned you."

"I am Dehaka. My strength has grown much. I have been given great power, power to defeat you. Your essence shall be mine". With this, Dehaka stomped forward toward Kerrigan as his pack began to clash with Kerrigan's Swarm.

"You have been granted power?" Kerrigan thought for a few moments. "Hmm, something seems familiar, that energy signature feels similar to that the apostles had. So those gods have decided to help you. How pathetic, you can't even rely on your own strength."

Kerrigan jumped to the side as Dehaka lunged forward. "Even with borrowed power, you cannot defeat me."

"I shall kill you, take your essence, take your power for my own", Dehaka replied. "I will live, I will evolve."

Dehaka let out a stream of flames from his mouth. His scorching breath burned a line across the ground as it swept toward Kerrigan. Kerrigan simply shielded herself, allowing the flames to pass over her. Then she leapt forward, striking toward Dehaka.

Dehaka blocked the strike, his claw pushing against Kerrigan's wings. Then, he brought his other claw forward to attack. Kerrigan leapt backwards to avoid the next strike as she was forced to break off her attack against Dehaka. However, she immediately retaliated by hitting Dehaka with a psionic blast which knocked the creature back a bit.

This wasn't enough to stop Dehaka though. After letting out a roar, he leapt toward Kerrigan, slamming into the ground and letting out a cloud of dust while Kerrigan moved to the side to avoid the impact. Then, he swept his tail to the side, and despite its massive size his tail was swift, knocking Kerrigan to the ground.

Dehaka lunged toward Kerrigan, swiping downward with both his claws. When Kerrigan blocked with her wings, his claws grabbed on, crushing the tips of the wings. Dehaka pushed Kerrigan's wings aside and pinned them to the ground and prepared to bite downwards. However, Kerrigan wasn't finished yet. Charging up her psionic energy, she struck Dehaka with a massive blast which threw him across the field.

Dehaka landed in a crumpled heap as he landed among Kerrigan's forces, clearly having been severely injured. But as Kerrigan's zerg began to attack Dehaka, he stood up despite his injuries and began to devour his attackers. As he consumed the zerg around him, his body began healing at a rapid pace, quickly undoing the damage he just sustained.

Seeing this, Kerrigan quickly ordered all of her zerg to get away from Dehaka, but he continued to pursue them and devour them. Now, Kerrigan moved toward Dehaka, recognizing that she needed to keep him contained.

Kerrigan started by attacking Dehaka with a stream of psionic lightning which burned through Dehaka's skin. Dehaka turned around, directing his attention back toward Kerrigan. As Dehaka began charging back toward Kerrigan, Kerrigan reached out with her psionic powers and pushed Dehaka downwards, slamming him into the dirt.

However, rather than fighting against the downwards force, Dehaka made use of it to help burrow beneath the ground. Seeing Dehaka disappear beneath the dirt, Kerrigan decided to use her powers to lift herself into the sky in order to hopefully avoid being caught by an attack from below.

However, now that she was in the sky, Kerrigan had to deal with attacks from the mutalisks of Dehaka's pack. Although the primal mutalisks which were ripoffs of the Swarm's mutalisks were vastly inferior, especially considering the new upgrades the Swarm acquired, and as such were losing the battle in the air, there were still a sufficient quantity of them to be a nuisance.

Several of Dehaka's mutalisks swooped in to attack, shooting out their glaive worms. Kerrigan deflected these attacks before frying the attacking mutalisks with a psionic storm. However, as more of them began to approach, Kerrigan decided to call some of her own mutalisks to surround her so that she didn't have to spend her attention fighting the enemy minions.

Suddenly, Dehaka burst out of the ground beneath Kerrigan and immediately swiped his claw through the air. The attack caught Kerrigan by surprise and Dehaka was able to catch Kerrigan and slam her into the ground, while also crushing many of the mutalisks around her.

Still, this one attack wasn't enough to stop Kerrigan. Even as Dehaka slammed downwards with his other claw, Kerrigan had already gotten to her feet and jumped aside. She momentarily struck at Dehaka with a stream of psionic lightning, but was forced to jump away when Dehaka's tail came back around.

At the same time, Dehaka let out a stream of fiery breath aimed toward where Kerrigan was moving toward. Kerrigan threw up a psionic shield to block the attack. For a few moments, the flames were stopped by the barrier, but Dehaka wasn't done yet. While he continued with his attack, he also struck the shield with his massive claws. After several strikes, Dehaka was able to break through the shield, and his claw knocked Kerrigan to the ground.

Then, he brought his other claw down and stabbed through Kerrigan's back and pinned her to the ground. Meanwhile, he continued to blast Kerrigan with flames. After several seconds, Dehaka had to end his attack, but he simply followed this up with an attack from his tail, using it as a massive hammer.

Kerrigan was still on the ground, with Dehaka's claws having left deep gouges in her. The flames had slightly charred her skin, her carapace being heat resistant enough to avoid much of the damage, but the flames had the effect of burning into the open wounds which weren't protected. But even as Dehaka slammed downwards with his tail, she was still in a condition to fight. While the attacks had hurt, it had also made the Queen of Blades angry.

The tail strike was deflected telekinetically, causing it to slam into the ground beside her. Before Dehaka could follow up, she focused her powers to blast Dehaka away, sending the massive primal sprawling. As her wounds began to regenerate, Kerrigan prepared an attack, gathering up energy. Dehaka began to rush toward her, but as he approached, Kerrigan released the energy, blasting a massive hole in Dehaka.

As Dehaka slumped to the ground, Kerrigan began walking toward him to inspect the results. The damage Dehaka sustained was heavy, and it seemed probable that it was enough to kill him. Kerrigan stopped next to Dehaka and looked him over. He wasn't moving, but she could still sense the energy present.

Suddenly, Dehaka sprung back up and swept his claw toward Kerrigan. Although the claw had been quite close, Kerrigan was able to jump backwards in time to avoid attack. However, at this moment Dehaka grabbed a nearby zerg. It wasn't one of Kerrigan's as she had ordered all her minions to stay away from Dehaka. But even though it was one of his own pack, Dehaka didn't hesitate in devouring it.

Dehaka's body began quickly regenerating from the damage, allowing him to stand up once more. Kerrigan found this combination quite annoying. With the external power from the gods keeping him alive, as well as his own ability to heal quickly by devouring, it would be quite difficult to keep Dehaka down. Not only did she have to stop her own minions from getting close, she had to make sure Dehaka didn't get within reach of his own pack either. And considering that she couldn't command his pack, well it would be quite the task.

Dehaka ordered his own pack to attack Kerrigan, and since she wanted to keep her own minions away from Dehaka as to not feed him, this meant that she had to deal with them herself. She destroyed a majority of the incoming zerg with a psionic storm, but there were still more that slipped through.

Several primal hydralisks began firing at her. Kerrigan stopped the spines midair, before sending them shooting back toward the hydralisks. But there were also enemies close by as well. There were several roaches approaching her, and Kerrigan decided to move forward and slice them apart, the carapace of the roaches proving to be no hindrance to her wings.

At this point, Dehaka had healed and was getting back in on the action. He pounced toward Kerrigan, who nimbly leapt to the side before slicing off one of Dehaka's arms. A jet of flaming breath shot toward her, but Kerrigan moved away, allowing the flames to sail past harmlessly. Now, Kerrigan pushed the attack, hitting Dehaka with several psionic blasts that tore into his body.

Several of Dehaka's minions were crowding around to attack her, and while they posed little threat to her, they were also in easy reach of Dehaka. And with an unlimited supply of food, it would be very troublesome to take down Dehaka. Kerrigan saw Dehaka turning to the side as he began reaching for one of his minions.

Seeing this, Kerrigan decided to interrupt Dehaka's devouring, and she dashed forward, killing the creature and knocking it away before Dehaka could grab onto it. But now, Dehaka decided to simply grab another target. His claw instead closed around Kerrigan as he squeezed the Queen of Blades in his grip, pinning her arms and wings to her side. Then, he tossed Kerrigan into his open maw before closing it.

Kerrigan found herself inside a damp and dark enclosed space after Dehaka roughly tossed her. Slimy liquid was dripping from the walls and pooling around her. As she felt the ground beneath her move, she realized that she was in Dehaka's mouth, and she was being pushed into his stomach to be devoured.

However, Dehaka made a mistake in trying to devour Kerrigan. As she began to slide inwards, the cavern of Dehaka's mouth was lit up as psionic energy began gathering in Kerrigan's hands. Then, she let it out in a massive burst, blowing apart Dehaka's throat, along with his head and stomach.

Kerrigan landed on the ground next to the splatters of flesh, being no worse for the wear but covered in Dehaka's saliva. While Dehaka was currently in no state to move, there were still many of his minions around, some of which me might eat when he regenerated enough to devour again. So, Kerrigan began clearing out the surrounding area, throwing out numerous psionic storms in quick succession. Meanwhile, she had her zerg form a cordon around them to prevent any more of Dehaka's pack from getting close.

Just as Kerrigan was done clearing the surrounding area, Dehaka struck, having recovered enough to move. However, this wasn't enough to catch Kerrigan, who moved back to avoid the attack. After putting a bit of distance between her and Dehaka, Kerrigan retaliated, pasting Dehaka into the ground with a constant stream of psionic attacks.

After Dehaka was put down once again, Kerrigan went up to the body and climbed up to Dehaka's head where she began trying to forcibly rip Dehaka's essence out. However, before she could do so, Dehaka rolled over, knocking off Kerrigan and forcing her to jump away before being crushed.

It was quite irritating as containing Dehaka long enough to pull out the essence was proving difficult. While containing the apostles had been doable once they were subdued, Dehaka was much larger and since he had been given much more power than any individual apostle, he regenerated from fatal wounds much faster. The combination of this made any attempt to keep Dehaka down much harder.

As Dehaka began to get up once more, Kerrigan began looking around for more options. Then, she came up with a new plan. A group of magilisks were arriving, and they were now hovering over the battlefield. Now, Kerrigan had them move into formation and begin preparations.

Dehaka began running forward once again to attack, taking a jagged path to dodge Kerrigan's attacks that came from afar. But as he got close, he would no longer be able to dodge so easily, though on the flipside, it meant he was now able to attack.

Dehaka's first swipe was blocked by Kerrigan's shield, and then he proceeded to swipe his massive tail forward. This time, Kerrigan jumped up over the tail, but remained hovering in the air. Dehaka reached forward to swat her out of the air, but before he could do so, Kerrigan rocketed forward, slamming into Dehaka and sending him staggering back.

Before Dehaka could regain his balance, Kerrigan hit him with a concentrated blast of psionic energy which pushed Dehaka backwards while carving a deep gouge in the ground. Dehaka was quite seriously wounded by this, but before he could get back up the magilisks in the air finally completed their spell.

Ice rose from the ground, enveloping Dehaka and pinning him into place. The ice has covered every inch of his body and was several meters thick. Then, Kerrigan jumped onto the block of ice and dug out the top until she was in contact with Dehaka's head. Though the rest of Dehaka's body was still covered in ice, the ice was beginning to crack apart as Dehaka struggled. Still, the ice was able to buy enough time for the Queen of Blades to make her move.

Kerrigan pushed her energy into Dehaka, striking at his essence. While in normal situations, the essence would resist being taken until its owner was dead, the part of Dehaka's strength which was granted to him by the gods was never truly part of him. By targeting this, Kerrigan ripped off the portion of power and consumed it.

With Dehaka now greatly weakened, Kerrigan was able to finish him off and take the remainder of his essence. Now, the last of the great primal zerg were dead. His pack was scattered and being massacred by the minute by the Swarm.

With no more serious resistance from the primal zerg remaining, Kerrigan returned to her hive cluster. While Dehaka was certainly an annoying opponent, she did gain quite a lot from it. Moreover, she realized that the application of psionic power to create other effects could be quite helpful in certain circumstances. It was something to look into after the fighting settled down. However, there would be one last group of enemies to defeat.

* * *

Once Dehaka fell, the gods put into action their final plan. Although they had hoped that their agent would succeed, they recognized the need for a backup strategy. So, while Dehaka was distracting the zerg forces, the gods made their own preparations should the worst happen. Now, it was time to put the plan into action. There was nothing else standing in Kerrigan's way, so the gods resolved to go all out.

There were many ways in which the gods could influence the world. They could provide blessings to their followers, and these small actions were quite trivial for them. They could also grant a portion of their strength to create an apostle, and though this was somewhat costly, it was bearable. In order to interfere more directly with the world, a god could descend upon a follower and use their powers through a conduit. This would provide them with greater influence in the world, but it would often kill the follower and could not be maintained for very long.

The last option was the most drastic, one which the gods very rarely if ever made use of. By sacrificing many of their worshippers, they could directly descend onto the mortal plane with an incarnation. The incarnation would practically be a piece of themselves, and they would be able to walk in the world. However, this was incredibly costly. Forming an incarnation would require a god to expend most of their divine energy which they can only slowly recover by gathering power from worship. For a weaker god, their true body might even fall dormant after losing so much strength, leaving them vulnerable to attack from other opportunistic gods. However, in this situation, there was no other option, and none of the gods would betray each other in this critical juncture. They were facing an existential threat as the enemy has shown the potential to kill a god. This was the only time they could strike. If they waited any longer, the enemy would only grow stronger.

As the rituals completed, massive amounts of energy descended upon Falmart. The gods themselves have arrived.


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

"My queen, I have detected multiple large energy signatures appearing around the continent", Lelei reported. "It appears that the gods have descended onto the planet. It is clear that they seek to eliminate us."

"How irritating. I just got done fighting Dehaka. Well, if they want to deliver themselves to me, then I shall go welcome them", Kerrigan said.

"I have tracked their locations", Lelei said. "They are rather scattered at the moment, but they are starting to move."

"It is best to kill them before they manage to get together", Kerrigan noted. "I shall go to fight this one. Keep me updated on their locations. Also, send the Swarm to attack the rest of them to delay them as much as possible."

As Kerrigan was about to leave, something else came up. It seems that some of their forces were being attacked by… walking trees.

"Where did these come from", Kerrigan asked with annoyance. "Seriously, walking trees?"

"Mutation occurred in forest", Abathur reported. "Formerly immobile organisms gained ability to move. Woody organisms attacking Swarm. More trees being spawned. Detecting increase in production rate."

"I don't have time to deal with that right now", Kerrigan said. "Tyuule, take some zerg and halt their advance. I will go deal with those so called gods."

* * *

After emerging from the closest Nydus Worm, Kerrigan tracked down her target. He was still alone, not yet having had the chance to meet up with the others. It had been unfortunate for Lunaryur, the God of Music, since the primary concentration of his surviving worshippers just happened to be in the middle of nowhere, so he descended to a location that was rather far away from the others. Still, he did not expect to be confronted so soon, as Kerrigan had rushed over quickly.

But as Kerrigan approached, he refused to display any sort of fear. "I see that you have come alone", Lunaryur said. "You don't have your minions to help you now."

"I don't need them to deal with you", Kerrigan replied.

"Oh? Such arrogance. Trying to challenge a god alone? Well if you wish to die so much, then I will be happy to take your life", Lunaryur said.

Lunaryur shot out a sonic blast toward Kerrigan, and although it flattened the area around her, knocking down trees and pulverizing boulders, in the center the sound waves simply reverberated off of Kerrigan's psionic shield.

Next, Kerrigan struck Lunaryur with a concentrated beam of psionic energy which sent the god reeling. Then, Kerrigan ran forward, intent on finishing him off quickly. However, before she could reach him, Lunaryur let out a shockwave that knocked Kerrigan back.

Then, a soft melody flowed through the air as Lunaryur crafted a beautiful song. It was one of the favorite tricks of the God of Music, and he had made great use of it in the past to affect the minds of mortals and bend them to his will. While he did not expect it to give him total victory in a fight against a being of equal power, he at least hoped that it would have an effect of pacification to slow down the pace of the fight.

Unfortunately for him, his attempt at mental manipulation didn't go as he hoped. The impact consisted of nothing more than a passing thought from Kerrigan, thinking that the music wasn't that bad, though she has no taste in music anyways, followed by a thought wondering why the enemy was playing music in the middle of the battle.

Since she was somewhat curious about this strange behavior, Kerrigan decided to delve into the mind of her enemy to find out about his plans. While it was much more difficult to infiltrate the mind of a god compared to that of an ordinary human, Kerrigan was powerful enough that she was about to take a peek inside without the god noticing. It helped that he was more focused on his music.

What Kerrigan found surprised her. The god was trying to toy with her mind? It was a rather pathetic attempt, and quite honestly he should have paid more attention to his own mind. Still, there was a way for her to make use of her opponent's foolishness.

Kerrigan paused for a moment, pretending to be enthralled by the music. Then, she began to walk forward slowly. The Queen of Blades approached Lunaryur with a look of longing in her eyes as she swayed her hips, as though she was completely seduced by his music. Seeing this, the god of music was pleased, and he redoubled his efforts.

Finally, Kerrigan was right next to Lunaryur, and she took the next step, slowly wrapping her arms around the god gently. As she pressed against him, Lunaryur continued to play, confident that he had succeeded.

Just as he was about to finish the last verse, he stopped as he found Kerrigan's wings emerging from his chest, having speared him all of the way through. Behind him, he heard a chuckle. "Oh I can't believe you actually fell for that. You must be so used to getting your way, don't you."

Lunaryur was still in shock, but he didn't have the chance to reflect on what had just happened as he felt his incarnation disintegrate while Kerrigan absorbed the power within. Meanwhile, his main body fell into hibernation after such a serious loss of power.

* * *

Deldort walked through the land, hoping to meet up with a fellow god. They had all made plans beforehand in where they should go to, and he was supposed to first join with Lunaryur before they went to join the main group. So far, he hadn't had to deal with anything over than some wandering groups of zerg which attacked him. Destroying them wasn't much of a difficulty, but they were a minor annoyance.

More concerning was that it seemed Lunaryur didn't showed up yet. It was possible that he was just delayed, but it was also possible that something worse had happened. After all, alone they were quite vulnerable, especially as neither of them were very good fighters. That is why he had wanted them to stick together.

Then, he saw someone approach. Unfortunately for him, it wasn't who he was waiting for; it seemed that the zerg queen had found him. After weighing his options, Deldort decided that it was best for him to try to get away. It was likely that Lunaryur had already been killed, and Deldort didn't like his chances in battle. Unlike some of the other gods, he was quite wary of a fight.

Deldort began to run away, and he was quite fast, much faster than an ordinary human. But as he looked back, he saw that he wasn't fast enough. Kerrigan was quite intent on pursuing him and was currently moving toward him quite rapidly. She appeared to be a purple blur, one that was quickly getting closer. So, it was clear that he would have to do something.

When Kerrigan was getting close, Deldort suddenly turned around and shot some greyish energy toward the ground, which after a moment erupted to form a dark prison around Kerrigan who had gotten too close to the trap. Deldort moved in to attack, as he could already tell that she was beginning to break out.

However, Kerrigan was more powerful than he expected, and before he could reach her, a massive explosion of psionic energy shattered the containment and knocked him back. Before Deldort could recover, Kerrigan attacked with a continuous beam of psionic energy which tore into Deldort.

Deldort was knocked into the ground and he tried his best to resist as Kerrigan's attack began to tear into his body. But despite his best efforts, he was quickly overpowered. With his incarnation's body beaten and broken, Kerrigan went forward and dealt the final blow.

* * *

Elange and Ral walked together on the surface of the world, something they had not done in hundreds of years. Back then, they had not yet become gods. Much had changed since then. Elange had become the God of Knowledge while Ral became the Goddess of Learning. The two of them occupied very similar concepts, and as such their worshippers were more or less the same group of people. Not that many of them were left anyways.

The city of Rondel that they had built together was no more. Many of their remaining followers that had gathered together were sacrificed to bring them into the world. Now there was one last chance. It was helpful that they had descended in the same place, as they didn't have to worry about being picked off by themselves. Also, they always did fight best together, even after all of these years.

Still, it was best for them to be in a larger group, which was why they were moving toward where the others were. Suddenly, the two of them paused, sensing their enemy approach. It seemed that they would have to fight with just the two of them. On the flipside, it seems that the zerg queen was coming alone, as she didn't appear to have an army at her back. Well, it wouldn't have been hard for them to kill the zerg minions, they had killed many that were in their path. But it would be one less thing to worry about.

Seeing Kerrigan approach, the two twins immediately launched a set of magic missiles toward her, with one set curving in from the right and the other from the left. Kerrigan jumped forward to try to dodge, but the missiles could track the target, allowing them to curve around. The attack was blocked by Kerrigan's shield, but this was as to be expected. A battle between mages would often be a test of endurance, so Ral and Elange were prepared for a long fight.

Ral conjured a massive burst of ice which surrounded Kerrigan, forming a massive chunk dozens of meters wide. While the cold would be enough to kill most creatures, Kerrigan had already adapted to far worse on Kaldir. However, the ice also served to prevent movement, which Elange was currently trying to take advantage of by preparing a powerful lightning spell.

But just as the spell was finishing, the ice broke open as Kerrigan blasted her way out with raw power. The lightning struck the ice behind her, narrowly missing. Now, Kerrigan went on the offensive, creating a focused psionic storm around the two gods. Elange and Ral immediately surrounded themselves with a magical shield which blocked the chaotic psionic energy tearing through the area.

However, this wasn't then end of it. While the two gods were busy defending, Kerrigan continued to run forward to attack. Just as the psionic storm dissipated, Kerrigan jumped in, knocking Ral away and slashing at her with her wings and claws. While Ral's passive shield protected her from the attacks, Kerrigan continued to wear away at it, enhancing her strikes with psionic power.

The two of them were very close together, so Elange couldn't effectively attack Kerrigan to force her to separate. However, that didn't mean he was idle. Taking the opportunity when Ral rolled to the side, Elange used a spell to pull Ral toward him.

Seeing her prey being yanked away, Kerrigan immediately turned to chase down Ral, but the goddess used the reprieve to knock Kerrigan away with a spell. While this didn't keep Kerrigan away for very long, it bought enough time for Ral to get back to Elange's side. Then, the two of them vanished just as Kerrigan was about to catch the two of them.

The gods teleported a short distance away, and immediately afterwards Elange began preparing a spell. Seeing Elange begin casting, and sensing the power building in the air, Kerrigan decided to interrupt this by shooting a beam of psionic energy toward Elange. However, Ral stepped up and blocked the attack with a magical shield.

The actively created shield was sturdier than the passive defense that mages used to protect themselves, but it took concentration and energy to maintain. Currently, Ral was spending the entirety of her effort blocking Kerrigan's attack, and still the shield was straining as it withstood the massive rush of psionic power. For several seconds, the shield held, barely, but while it looked like Kerrigan was getting the upper hand, Elange had completed his spell. Massive bolts of lightning came down from the sky and slammed into the ground around Kerrigan.

Kerrigan had quickly ended her attack and hastily threw up a psionic shield. The massive barrage of lightning slammed into the shield, eventually breaking it after several strikes, before hitting the queen herself. Numerous streaks of lightning descended upon Kerrigan, the massive barrage forcing her to the ground.

The entire area was devastated, the ground singed black as the lightning burned through everything around and created a small crater. In the center of the crater, Kerrigan groaned as she struggled to get up, her body being charred nearly to a crisp. Her wings were gone, while her carapace was burned black and was crumbling

Elange and Ral weren't resting on their laurels though, as they were aware that one attack might not have been enough to kill their enemy. Immediately after Elange finished his spell, Ral began manipulating the ground beneath Kerrigan, causing the dirt to shift and swallow her up. Then, with another wave of her staff, Ral turned the liquified dirt into solid stone which was reinforced with magic.

Now, the two gods knew that their enemy would escape eventually, so they took the time to prepare a combination attack, one that they were both quite proud of, readying it for when Kerrigan decided to emerge from the rock. It was a spell that involved both of them, and the purpose was to bombard the target with scorching hot fire and extremely cold ice in rapid succession. The alternating burning and freezing was extremely effective and was enough to destroy even the toughest of materials.

For several seconds, nothing happened. There seemed to be no signs of Kerrigan emerging from the rock, and the pair of twins were starting to wonder whether they had actually managed to finish off their enemy. Suddenly, the ground burst open, but it wasn't where they had been expecting. Instead, it seemed that Kerrigan had tunneled through the ground and struck the two gods from below.

When Kerrigan emerged from the dirt below Elange and Ral, a massive explosion was generated which knocked the surprised gods away. As Elange was trying to get to his feet, Kerrigan pounced on him, tackling him to the ground as she began to slice at him.

Ral had recovered from the blast and was about to intervene, but suddenly a nydus worm appeared below her, swallowing her up. Meanwhile, Kerrigan continued to attack Elange, while the god desperately tried to fight back, not being able to perform any complex spells under the pressure.

Then, the nydus worm burst open as Ral emerged, having destroyed the creature with her magic. But another nydus worm had emerged, and this one began spewing out zerg. In particular, a stream of banelings spewed out from the mouth of the nydus worm, splattering all over Ral who was forced to put up a barrier to block the acid.

Elange was losing badly, and Ral knew that she had to do something to save her brother. After quickly blowing up the nydus worm, she did the only thing she could with the limited time she had. Both Kerrigan and Elange were encased in a massive block of ice, as Ral attempted to buy some time by preventing either from moving.

Unfortunately, such a measure was of only limited effectiveness, as Kerrigan was already beginning to crack through the ice. Elange shared a look of shared understanding with Ral, before he melted the ice around him. Now, the two combatants were trapped in a water pocket within the chunk of ice. Ral, recognized the setup, though it had never been done in such a manner with Elange actually inside. But seeing that there was no other choice, Ral began casting a spell, strengthening the surrounding ice and hardening it.

Meanwhile, Kerrigan was attacking Elange who was within the pocket of water along with Kerrigan. Elange decided to use a lightning attack, which went everywhere within the pocket of water, damaging Kerrigan, but also himself. Although Kerrigan was enduring the electric shocks, she was still able to grab onto Elange and begin assaulting him from psionic energy at a close range. For several seconds, the two were locked together, doing their best to hurt the other. But in the end, Elange's shield fell first, unable to withstand the attacks any longer.

Finally, Kerrigan tore into Elange, ripping into his body and consuming it. A scream of anger sounded from a short distance away. The enraged Ral completed her spell, intent on getting revenge for her brother.

Kerrigan looked up, seeing a massive spear of ice shooting downwards into the hole in the ice like a bullet traveling through a gun barrel. Unable to do anything in the fleeting moment of time, Kerrigan was stuck inside the pocket in the ice as the massive spike of ice slammed downward into it. The impact shattered the large ice chunk as the stick of ice forced itself in, sending massive shards of ice in all direction.

In the center, the spear of ice had crushed Kerrigan's head and impaled itself deep within her chest. At the moment it struck, the smooth ice burst in a secondary explosion which created spikes of ice expanding outwards from the surface of the spear. The ice had burst out inside Kerrigan's body, tearing it to shreds as the rapidly expanding ice burst open her carapace from the inside. It was quite a gruesome scene, the area of impact having small spikes of ice emerging from all directions, each of the spikes having their own protrusions coming out of them as well, forming what could be described as a fractal. The ice would have been quite the scene of beauty, had it not been covered in blood and pieces of flesh.

Ral stared at the shredded body of the Queen of Blades, examining the success of her work. It had been a well practiced spell for her, and it seemed to have done its job well. However, Ral watched in dismay as Kerrigan's body reconstituted itself, returning to a pristine state within seconds.

"That was a good trick you pulled there", Kerrigan said. "Had this happened in the past, I would definitely have died, despite my body's resilience. But I am now strong enough to transcend the limits of the flesh. As long as I have the power I can reforge my body from mere scraps. And I haven't run out of energy yet. Now, you won't get me a second time."

Ral began rapidly throwing spells around the battlefield, but Kerrigan weaved in and out of the impacts as she ran toward Ral, avoiding the brunt of the damage. Finally, she came onto Ral, grabbing onto the goddess and pushing her into the ground. Then, Kerrigan began channeling psionic energy through her hands as she forced the power into Ral.

Ral's shield began flickering under the unceasing tide of energy, but the goddess was unable to escape as she was still in Kerrigan's grip. As wave after wave of energy crashed into her, Ral's shield finally flickered out and the goddess was exposed to the full brunt of the attack, frying out her body instantly.

* * *

A swarm of zerg ran through the battlefield, clashing against a line of trees. The trees had sharp blades of wood grown upon them, and they used them to cleave through zerglings and hydralisks. However, the roaches were proving to be highly effective against them, using their acid to burn through the trunks and branches while their armor made them resistant toward the slashes.

However, the army of trees created by Wareharun weren't weak either. The goddess of the forest had created something to deal with roaches as well. A massive tree lumbered toward the roach. Unlike the others, it didn't have bladed branches, but rather a massive arm of wood tipped with stone. It swung downwards, crushing a roach with its sheer mass. Its body was now peppered with dozens of spines from hydralisks, not seeming to do much damage.

Suddenly, the massive woody behemoth was stopped as a speeding figure slammed into it. Tyuule extended her claws before swiping deep into the wood, ripping it apart. Within seconds, the massive plant fell to the ground in pieces. Tyuule jumped down, admiring her work. She had been leading the zerg forces against the seemingly endless tide of trees walking out of the forest. So far, they were making good progress, and Tyuule was more than able to rip through the enemies in her way.

Meanwhile, the infestors had cooked up a vile fungal growth which they sprayed on the trees, rapidly rotting the wood and breaking it down. The fungal infestation was devastating the horde of trees, and the zerg were currently streaming through the gaps.

Tyuule began to walk forward, eager to throw herself into the fight and begin tearing apart the collapsing enemy lines. But before she could do so, she was blown back by a wave of fire which scorched her body. In front of her, large sections of the zerg army were incinerated. At the front of all of this was Flare. With every swing of his sword, a wave of fire came out, burning the zerg in front of him.

Beside Flare stood Zufmuut, who was standing rather casually as Flare began wiping out the zerg. With all of the zerg dying before they even got near, he didn't see much of a need to do much.

Tyuule stood up, still hurting from the burns, and looked out toward the two gods that were walking forward. She recognized that this was not something she could take on, even with all of the minions around her. So, with reluctance she turned around and returned to the hive cluster, the flames sweeping through her position only moments later.

* * *

After Kerrigan had killed Elange and Ral, she was informed on the current status of the battles. There were currently two groups of gods advancing on the hive cluster. Currently, the zerg offensive toward the great forest had been stopped by Flare and Zufmuut, who were currently paving the way for Wareharun's army to advance on Alnus Hill. Now that the easier pickings were taken care of, it was time for Kerrigan to confront the main force of the gods.

The gods had routed the zerg forces easily, wiping them out in large numbers as they advanced. Behind them followed a small army of trees. Suddenly, the advance stopped as the army was engulfed in a massive psionic storm which ripped it apart. Kerrigan had arrived, bringing with her a new zerg army.

Flare and Zufmuut charged toward Kerrigan, rapidly cleaving through the zerg in their way. The flames incinerated the nearby zerg, leaving a trail of devastation. Finally, the two reached Kerrigan, immediately moving to slash apart the zerg queen with their swords. What followed was a rapid flurry of attacks and parries, with Kerrigan using both her wings and claws to duel against the two gods.

Meanwhile, the zerg were coming around to attack. Although many of them died to the flames, some survived the high temperatures. Although their attacks didn't significantly hurt the gods, it did somewhat annoy them. The army of trees weren't doing so well against the zerg now that the gods were no longer winning the battle for them, so the zerg held the advantage for now.

Finally, the two gods had enough of this. Zufmuut charged forward, knocking Kerrigan back with a powerful swing of his sword. Then, the two gods withdrew slightly. Flare reached his hand into the air and the sky began to light up. The sun brightened and grew, as if its light became solely focused on this piece of land.

Tremendous amounts of light came down from the sky, and in high enough concentrations, when light is focused into a laser, it burns. And it was like the entire battlefield was covered in a laser carrying the heat of the sun within it. The light came down and burned the area around the gods, searing the land totally. The ground turned into a molten pool as the high temperatures caused even the rocks to melt.

When the light finally disappeared, the entire area was practically wiped clean. The armies on both sides were obliterated, not even the hardiest zerg minions being able to withstand such high temperatures for several seconds. But as Flare and Zufmuut floated in the air, gazing over the land before them, they saw that Kerrigan had also survived the attack, having protected herself from the incineration that occurred around her.

Now, Kerrigan dived through the air and slammed into Flare, who held back the strike with his sword. But while Kerrigan's claws scraped against the sword, her wings hooked around and sliced at Flare, who quickly moved back but still got clipped by the tips. Then, Zufmuut came in from behind and slashed Kerrigan from behind, leaving a deep cut along her back. But Zufmuut was sent reeling backwards as Kerrigan blasted him away.

Flare pointed his sword at Kerrigan, letting loose a jet of flame toward the Queen of Blades. In response, Kerrigan struck back with a beam of psionic energy which quickly overwhelmed Flare and knocked him back while his sword dropped from his hand. Then, Kerrigan quickly tackled Flare and wrapped her arms around him. Then, her wings stretched out and impaled Flare from both sides. Finally, Kerrigan was able to kill Flare's incarnation and capture its essence.

But as she was done tangling with Flare, Zufmuut swooped in from behind to strike. Though Kerrigan dodged at the last moment, preventing Zufmuut's sword from slicing off her head, Zufmuut managed to slice off Kerrigan's shoulder. He followed up as Kerrigan turned around to face him, plunging the sword into Kerrigan's chest.

Kerrigan screamed in rage and brought her wings down to cut apart Zufmuut, only for the god to pull his sword out and withdraw. For a moment the two looked at each other, floating in the air. Then, Zufmuut shot forward again with his sword thrusting directly toward Kerrigan. Kerrigan brought her wings up to block the blow as she flew forward to meet it.

A flash of light from Zufmuut momentarily blinded Kerrigan, and her wings met air. In this moment, Zufmuut had dropped below Kerrigan, only to come back up behind her. His sword swung upwards, cutting into Kerrigan from below. The speed of the strike pushed the blade upwards, nearly bisecting Kerrigan down the middle as the edge finally came to a stop stuck into Kerrigan's upper body.

Despite this terrible wound, Kerrigan decided to grab onto the blade with her hands, a move which surprised Zufmuut. Then, she began forcing her psionic energy into the blade, pushing it toward Zufmuut. The god began to channel the power of the light into the sword, but it was slowly dimming as Kerrigan's power began to overtake his.

Finally, the sword exploded, sending the shards shooting in all directions while Zufmuut howled from the backlash. Then, Kerrigan spun around and stabbed through the god in that moment. After Zufmuut was defeated, Kerrigan let herself return to the ground as her wounds healed. But there was still more fighting yet to be done.

After defeating the two gods, Kerrigan led the Swarm to trample over the remaining opposition, and they reached the outskirts of the forest. The zerg began to run in, tearing at anything they could get their hands on. But the forest which was now fully awakened, was putting up a fight. These trees have stood for thousands of years, becoming massive behemoths.

Without regard to any of this, Kerrigan walked through the trees, not being seriously challenged by anything there. She was headed toward the center of the forest toward the energy signatures she felt. She found one goddess waiting with, Miritta, the Goddess of Fertility. She had helped Wareharun, allowing the birth rate of the army to increase drastically, vastly outstripping what would otherwise be possible. But she wasn't much of a fighter, and as Kerrigan approached, the goddess realized that she had nowhere to go.

As Miritta tried to run, Kerrigan brought her down with several bursts of psionic energy. Then she approached the downed goddess, casually walking forward. Miritta's death was swift, and almost pathetic in comparison to the others.

There was still one more goddess here, but Wareharun was unlike the other gods. She had been born from the spirit of the trees, and her body was the forest. But that didn't provide her with much protection now, as the zerg were slowly but surely beginning to infest the forest, subverting it to their will. It would only be a matter of time before Wareharun was brought down.

However, Kerrigan had business elsewhere as the remainder of the gods were still at large. As she left, she decided to allow another to partake in this prize. After all, Tyuule had done her best, but she simply wasn't at the level of being able to fight gods. Perhaps a little boost would be in order. Kerrigan directed Abathur and Lelei to come over with Tyuule to help her to absorb the essence of the forest. It would be slow, but there wasn't much else for Tyuule to do in the meantime. Also, it was probably best for them all to get out of the hive cluster and go to this location which was somewhat safer. The last group of gods were already on the outskirts of the hive cluster, and the coming battle would surely be brutal.

* * *

A massive swarm of zerg covered Alnus Hill. It was the first place where the Zerg stepped foot on the world and it had been where the zerg had built up their primary hive cluster on the planet. Now, a vast majority of the zerg on the planet were gathered there. Facing them was a group that seemed insignificant in comparison. It was just three individuals. But each of them had an aura of power around them which would cause one to instinctively flinch away. As the three stood there calmly and confidently, it seemed like they alone could take on the vast horde of zerg. And in all honesty, that might have been possible, had it not been for the presence of their main opponent.

Emroy lifted his axe and charged forward, running through the tides of zerg with near reckless abandon, utterly obliterating the zerg minions in his way, creating a whirlwind of blood. The God of War was on a rampage, but behind him Duncan and Palapon followed as they mopped up the survivors.

Up above, the magilisks were proving to be quite the nuisance, firing spell after spell against the gods. While the gods were able to rely on their own power to survive the attacks, it did wear away at them as well as impede their movement.

Suddenly, Palapon vanished in a whiff of smoke, before reappearing in the sky above a set of magilisks. After landing on one, he stabbed it through with his dagger before jumping to the next one. The dead magilisks began falling from the sky and the remainder scattered as they were chased down by Palapon. Despite this, there were still numerous other groups of maglisks in the sky.

As Emroy began carving a path into the hive cluster, Kerrigan jumped in, slashing at the dark god with her wings. To her surprise, Emroy did nothing to avoid the strike, letting the bladed wing tips pierce into him. But he followed it up by smashing his axe into Kerrigan, nearly crumpling in her body. As Kerrigan staggered back, Emroy laughed, seeming to be uncaring of his own wounds.

Emroy jumped forward to strike once more, but Kerrigan was able to escape when several magilisks conjured an ice wall between them, forcing Emroy to destroy the barrier first. But at this time Duncan came in from the side, rushing at Kerrigan. Kerrigan sidestepped the hammer blow, before knocking the god back with a burst of psionic energy.

However, Emroy was back again, attacking Kerrigan with a flurry of strikes which, although they were blocked, still ended up forcing her back. The nearby zerg turned to attack Emroy, but Duncan was able to kill them off before they got close. Emroy's next strike was caught by Kerrigan's wings, which were narrowly able to prevent the axe from hitting her. Then, she struck Emroy with a bolt of psionic energy which tore into the dark god and knocked him backwards.

Suddenly, Duncan leapt in, smashing apart Kerrigan's wings with a powerful strike. Kerrigan quickly moved away, avoiding Duncan's follow up attacks. Then, after a moment of focus, she knocking Duncan into a horde of zerglings which quickly jumped on him. But just as this happened, Palapon appeared behind Kerrigan, using his knife to stab through the Queen of Blades.

Kerrigan staggered from the sudden strike that caught her off guard, but as she turned to try to push Palapon off of her, Emroy came forward to land a finishing blow. Emroy's axe cleaved through the carapace on Kerrigan's chest, burying itself deep within her. But the mad god wasn't done, quickly yanking out the axe only to slam it down again and again. For a moment, Kerrigan managed to roll away during a brief pause in Emroy's flurry of attacks, but Palapon intercepted her before she could escape.

While Emroy was doing his best to turn the Queen of Blades into mincemeat, Duncan had finally crawled out of the zergling pile up. Not wanting to get in Emroy's way, as Emroy was quite firmly consumed by bloodlust by now, Duncan decided to fight off the multitude of zerg that were coming to attack them.

For a few moments, it looked like the gods had the situation under control. Emroy was busy beating Kerrigan to a pulp, and Duncan and Palapon guarded against anything else. While Kerrigan was constantly regenerating, the mad god was just quick with his rapid flurry of strikes.

Suddenly, ice sprung up from the ground, engulfing the entire area after the hovering magilisks finished their spell. Emroy broke out quickly, as did the other two gods, but before they could react, a second group of magilisks levitated away the chunk of ice containing Kerrigan's beaten body and tossed it into the distance.

The gods quickly chased after it, but by the time they got to the broken ice chunk, Kerrigan was gone, having burrowed underground just before the gods got there. Seeing this, Emroy began going on a rampage, smashing apart zerg hives. Palapon and Duncan were more wary however, continuing to keep track of their surroundings.

Finally, Kerrigan resurfaced and although her body was once again intact, she was quite pissed off. First, she began pummeling Emroy with a series of psionic blasts, which quickly caught the god's attention. Palapon had vanished once more and Duncan was charging forward. While dodging Emroy's attacks, Kerrigan began to attack Duncan while having her minions focus on Emroy.

Kerrigan was beginning to overwhelm Duncan, being much faster than him and thus able to wound him repeatedly without being hit by his hammer. Suddenly, Kerrigan broke off from Duncan and spun around, having noticed a disturbance just as Palapon emerged from the shadows behind her. Kerrigan instantly struck, burying her wings into the surprised god.

Then, Kerrigan's arms reached around and took ahold of her captive, before dragging him into a roll down the hill. All the while, Palapon screamed as Kerrigan began digging her blades in deeper, tearing apart his body from the core. Finally, Palapon's body fell apart as Kerrigan destroyed it and absorbed the essence imparted in the incarnation.

Next, Kerrigan turned her focus toward Duncan who was charging down toward her. She struck him head on with a beam of psionic energy which began driving the god into the ground. But Kerrigan soon ended her attack when Emroy came by again. Quickly leaping away, she had her minions go to surround the God of War.

Just as Duncan was getting back on his feet, Kerrigan jumped toward him, slamming him back into the ground. Now being on top of Duncan, Kerrigan began methodically ripping him apart, bit by bit. Duncan wasn't able to swing his hammer very effectively with so little room, so he could do little to dislodge his attacker. But he wasn't alone, as Emroy was quickly coming toward Kerrigan.

Emroy swung his axe toward Kerrigan's back, but she was prepared, quickly flipping around so that the axe struck Duncan instead, caving in his chest. Then, she jumped backwards, all the while ripping into Duncan's body further, until at last he crumpled as well.

Now, it was just her and Emroy. Emroy was the strongest among the gods, and that was clear to Kerrigan as Emroy constantly held the upper hand in their clash. Moreover, Kerrigan was damn near exhausted, having fought for the entire day against the various gods. By now, she wasn't making use of any fancy psionic tricks, instead resorting to a bare physical fight, and she wasn't doing as well as she hoped.

Backing away from Emroy, Kerrigan considered her next actions. Then, she retreated and in her place stood hordes of zerg. Though they had been greatly thinned out by now, there were still many. Emroy continued to charge through the zerg as he was peppered by hydralisk spines and mutalisk glaives. Then, a tide of banelings rolled down, engulfing the god in a tide of acid. This actually caused Emroy to stagger, but only for a few moments.

But as Emroy became distracted with the zerg, Kerrigan had ended her short rest and took the opportunity to strike. Her body was like a blur as it slammed into Emroy, sending the both of them into the dirt. Now, Kerrigan took the chance to begin clawing into Emroy as she started to tear the god's body apart.

Unlike the others, Emroy didn't try to escape. He let out a crazed laugh and engaged in the brawl earnestly. His arms reached around Kerrigan and squeezed, exerting such great pressure that Kerrigan's carapace cracked open. Then, Emroys tore at the crack, ripping it open before pushing his arm inside.

All the while, Emroy's body was being torn apart. But the mad god didn't care. He simply redoubled his own efforts, ripping out Kerrigan's guts as his hands tore into flesh. The Queen of Blades let out gasps of pain as Emroy began brutalizing her internal organs, but she didn't let up on her own attack.

The two made no move to change their tactics, both entirely engrossed in causing as much harm to the other as possible. But Kerrigan was regenerating, albeit at a slowing speed as her power was nearly exhausted. However, this was enough to keep her alive as Emroy finally succumbed to Kerrigan's attacks.

The final god fell, and with that, Kerrigan was left victorious. But Kerrigan was in no mood to celebrate as exhaustion was finally starting to catch up to her. She laid on the ground silently, curled up as she contemplated her situation. It was a victory, one that was hard won. Now, it was time to move onto the future.

* * *

The descent had been the gods' last hurrah, and the effort had left most of them unconscious in hibernation after they had expended so much of their power. And the others were in no state to do anything either. But while they had a short reprieve as the Swarm regrouped, the time for reckoning would come.

Kerrigan led the Swarm into the realm of the gods. The gods were hardly able to resist as they were devoured. Duncan, Miritta, Flare, Palapon, Zufmuut, Deldort, Lunaryur, their true bodies were killed as Kerrigan destroyed them utterly and took their essence.

As Kerrigan approached Elange and Ral's divine realms, she decided that it was time to give a reward.

Kerrigan called Lelei over. "You have served me well, Lelei. Your contribution has been invaluable in making this possible. Thus, it is only fitting for you to partake in the spoilers. Elange and Ral shall be yours."

"I thank you for your generosity, my queen", Lelei replied. "With new power I shall serve you with even greater effectiveness in the future."

Lelei walked toward the prone forms of Elange and Ral. She had once followed them and looked up to them as unreachable figures. But now they were nothing much in the end. Those attitudes she held as a human seem so meaningless now. The gods she once worshipped were weak, almost pathetic. It was time for her to surpass them.

* * *

Emroy was the last god remaining. His divine realm was filled with the souls of the greatest warriors of the past. Each of them came to fight the zerg, but in the end they could do nothing to change the outcome. Emroy, as the strongest god of them all, was still active, though he was weakened. But there was no chance at all for him to win now. Despite this, he fought.

Finally, Kerrigan approached Emroy to finish him off. Looking up, Emroy spoke. "Damn you. We were the gods, untouchable in this world. Until you came. You destroyed everything. Everything is gone! Die! You must die!"

Emroy lunged at Kerrigan, but he was quickly beaten down into the ground. "Your reign has come to an end, Emroy. It is time for my ascension." Emroy died, and there were no longer any gods in this world.

* * *

Kerrigan stood at the head of a swarm of zerg, consisting of every last one on the planet. After taking one last look around, Kerrigan spoke. "Lelei, Tyuule, we will be leaving now. This planet has been all you have known all your life, but now it is time to go. Are you ready to leave your home?"

"I am", Lelei replied. "There is much more out there, so much else to see. This land holds no interest for me anymore."

"I shall follow you wherever you go", Tyuule replied. "You have given me a new chance and I shall serve you loyally."

"Very well then", Kerrigan said. "Let us go."

* * *

 **Author's note: And we are now done with the Gate side of things and are returning to the Koprulu Sector. Next chapter will provide an overview of changes that have occurred because of the zerg's extended absence.**

 **I was seriously considering breaking this into two chapters. Normally, I am to have at least 3k words in each chapter. This chapter was over 7.1k words. But ultimately, I decided not to separate it. I had no justification other than word count, and in my eyes that is too meaningless and arbitrary of a measure to decide to split a chapter. It wasn't as though two separate events had occurred, so there wasn't really any reason to actually cut up the chapter. So I hope you enjoyed this extra long chapter.**


	18. A status report on the Koprulu Sector

**Chapter 18: An Update on the State of the Koprulu Sector**

 **Since the zerg have spent extra time doing other things, there are changes that have occurred. This chapter will summarize those divergences.**

* * *

When Arcturus Mengsk first took the throne, his ascension had been built off of the promise of protecting humanity from the alien menace. The people accepted his dictatorial rule because they feared what would happen without him. As long as humanity triumphed over the zerg, then his position would be secure.

This was clearly evident in what had occurred. When the zerg had invaded during the Second Great War, and the Dominion had failed to stop it, his popularity had plummeted. His rule became unstable, to the point that one broadcast from Raynor had caused riots all over the Dominion. But after the battle on Char when the Queen of Blades was defeated, all the unrest faded into the past.

Clearly the citizens were fickle, their opinions determined solely by victories and defeats. Arcturus was just glad that the zerg didn't press the attack after the Brood War. Their withdrawal had allowed him to claim victory, despite the reality being that his armies had been utterly defeated at every juncture. Though from a certain standpoint, if success was measured by being able to prevent the zerg from taking terran worlds, then it could be said that he succeeded.

Even after the zerg withdrew after the Brood War, Arcturus knew that they would be back one day. And when the time came, he would need to be ready. So, he did everything he could to prepare the Dominion. Part of this was the self serving desire to remain in power, though he did genuinely see himself as the defender of humanity.

But Mengsk knew that the terrans were outmatched by the zerg. Despite his propaganda to the people, he himself knew that the hope as bleak. That was why when Dr. Narud from the Mobius Foundation offered a solution, he took it. The research into the hybrids had great potential. It would give the Dominion a powerful weapon, one that would finally allow them to stand up to the zerg. It was to become humanity's salvation, and he gave all necessary support to Dr. Narud and his team to work on developing hybrids.

Though the hybrid production team was given his full support, the project was not yet completed when the zerg invaded the Dominion at the beginning of the Second Great War. Conventional forces proved to not be enough. Their fleets were horribly outmatched and it became necessary to abandon the fringe and withdraw to the core worlds to buy as much time as possible. At that time, Arcturus had despaired. The hybrid project was not yet complete, and it hadn't seemed like there would be enough time. But the assault on Char had proved to be a lucky break. The Zerg Swarm had been shattered and the Dominion was saved.

This good fortune didn't last for Mengsk. He had failed to kill Kerrigan, and she slipped out of his fingers. Soon, she was once again leading the Swarm and had managed to dislodge the Dominion forces from Char. Arcturus cursed Raynor for his stupidity. That lovesick man was too blind to see the threat that Kerrigan had. And he was responsible for unleashing this threat on the sector by protecting Kerrigan. Of course, Mengsk gave no thought to how he was responsible for Kerrigan being infested in the first place.

Arcturus had been worried after Kerrigan returned to the scene. However, he had a valuable bargaining chip as he held Raynor captive. He hoped that the threat of killing Raynor would buy enough time for Narud to finish the hybrids, or if he was lucky, Kerrigan might die in the trap he set aboard the Moros. This was just one of his many plots and contingencies. He had ordered his fleet to drop communicators on the hive clusters on Char so that he could talk with Kerrigan to deliver his threat. However, they were never picked up or used.

For a little while, Mengsk had become worried that he wasn't able to deliver his threat. If Kerrigan had decided to just attack Korhal, things would be quite troublesome. But as time passed, his fear had turned to delight as he realized that Kerrigan had seemingly vanished. The zerg made no moves at all. Indeed, he had hopes that the Queen of Blades had somehow gotten herself killed, maybe with a bad run in with protoss.

The final clincher came when Narud reported on the success with creating the first batch of hybrids. With this, his victory over the zerg was assured and he no longer needed to worry now that he had the ultimate weapon. The hybrid labs began delivering hybrids to various Dominion worlds, starting with the core worlds, to serve as a trump card in case of an attack. Even if Kerrigan was to attack, he would not need to fear.

Indeed, Narud had delivered a special shipment to Korhal straight from the Skygeirr labs which were the main hybrid development center. The good doctor told him that these hybrids would be able to deal with the Queen of Blades. As he had the Xel'naga artifact to go along with them as well, Mengsk had complete confidence in being able to fend off an attack from Kerrigan.

Hybrids production was continuing, and the Dominion worlds would soon be protected. It was the culmination of years of effort. During this time, due to the increased fleet presence around Skygeirr as a result of the shipments, Alexei Stukov was forced to leave lest his ship be spotted by the Dominion ships. Since his efforts to acquire help to take down the labs was to no avail, he decided to abandon this course of action.

Now that Mengsk had finished dealing with the main threat, he began to turn is attention to auxiliary concerns. The Hyperion was still out there. Although Raynor was in captivity, his men could still prove to be a nuisance, especially if they were able to make use of Valerian. They hadn't been doing much, probably because they were still depressed about Raynor's "death", but it was probable that they might snap out of it soon.

The Terran Dominion was about to take its place as the dominant power in the sector, it could not allow its ascension to be sabotaged by dissent elements. The remainder of Raynor's little terrorist band needed to be eliminated. Furthermore, if they were to discover Raynor was still alive, and rescued him, then he would suffer a huge loss of credibility, since he had announced that Raynor was dead. Raynor being alive was a loose end, and now that he was no longer needed to keep Kerrigan in check, perhaps it is time to make use of him.

The Raiders were constantly trying to hack into Dominion networks to try to gain information that they could make use of. While they could not breach the top security systems, the Raiders did still manage to glean some intel. So, Mengsk hatched a plot. He had classified information about Raynor's imprisonment and the details of his prison ship's routes be stored in a less secure computer system. Then, all that was left was to wait.

Finally, the well hidden program that watched over that piece of data detected someone retrieving that information. While it had seemed legitimate from a systems perspective, Mengsk knew that it was because someone had hacked the system. Now, he knew that the Raiders had taken the bait.

When the Hyperion came to ambush the Moros, they found a Dominion fleet in waiting. The single aging battlecruiser was destroyed by the combined might of the assembled fleet. However, it seemed that the prison ship had been infiltrated by a team of Spectres. It was probable they got in someway else and the Hyperion was just there for the pickup. But that plan had failed in the end as the insurance policy on the Moros got triggered, destroying the ship along with the infiltration team and Jim Raynor.

With his plans having succeeded, Arcturus Mengsk was pleased. Everything was going perfectly. But unknown to him, the zerg were now returning. And they would be far more dangerous than he had expected.

* * *

 **The extra time passing allowed events to go in another direction. Mobius was able to get further into its hybrid development and get them ready for use since they were about near ready in the original timeline. Stukov is gone and Raynor is dead. The hybrid's are mobilized and sent to defend Terran worlds. Things are going to become interesting. Next chapter will get into the action.**


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19**

The leviathan had landed on the surface of Zerus; it's maw open to allow access to its inside. Standing within the Leviathan was Zagara, who bowed as Kerrigan approached. "My queen, you have returned to us. I have kept your leviathan safe as you commanded."

"Well done Zagara", Kerrigan replied. "My forces will come into the Leviathan. Then, we will make our next move."

"Of course", Zagara said. "My queen, if I may ask, who are the ones you have brought with you?"

"Lelei and Tyuule are my new followers. They shall serve me and the Swarm", Kerrigan told Zagara. "You will be able to acquaint yourself with them later."

Once they were in the Leviathan, it was time to discuss their plans. Kerrigan laid out their next course of action. "Our first priority is to recollect the scattered broods and return them to the Swarm. When I returned I sent out a psionic broadcast to the broodmothers. Let's see how many of them will heed my call."

"My queen, some of the broodmothers have grown accustomed to being independent, and may be reluctant to return to the fold", Izsha reported. "Although they had sensed your rebirth, your long absence has caused some to lose confidence in you. It may be necessary to take further actions to compel them to submit."

"Well, what are the attitudes of the various broodmothers?", Kerrigan asked.

"Broodmother Kilysa has decided to return to us", Izsha answered. "Her brood is small but has many leviathans."

"Excellent, but what of the others?", Kerrigan inquired.

"Broodmothers Ryloth and Rokarr have the largest broods, as well as several subordinate broodmothers", Izsha reported. "During your absence the two of them formed their own factions and their forces are skirmishing against each other. Both seek to rule over their own Swarm. There are also various smaller broods which have stayed neutral. Those broods may be more amenable to return, but some are still apprehensive."

"Then we shall force them to submit", Kerrigan said. "First, Ryloth and Rokarr will have to be subjugated. The rest will naturally fall in line once they see my strength. Once the Swarm is reunited we shall move on Korhal."

At this moment, Abathur had made his presence known, having left the evolution pit to make a request. "Many strains remain lost. Recollection recommended. Evolution opportunities exist, begin evolving swarm."

"Very well. Abathur you may go to track down lost strains or new strains or whatever you are looking for." With this Kerrigan dismissed Abathur and instructed him to carry out his search.

Then, Kerrigan turned to Tyuule. "Take some of our forces and find Ryloth. Defeat her and make her submit to me. I shall deal with Rokarr and the rest of the broodmothers."

With everyone given their tasks, it was time to make the Swarm whole.

* * *

Rokarr's brood was specialized in air power; they possessed a large amount of mutalisks as well as advanced strains such as brood lords. After the Swarm scattered, Rokarr was left with a large portion of the zerg's remaining aerial forces. It was with this that Rokarr managed to successfully fight against Ryloth, who held an advantage in ground forces. The disparity had led to their current fight being inconclusive.

But soon, the current state of affairs would be completely upended as Kerrigan sought to eliminate the divisions that had developed. Kerrigan landed on the surface of the planet along with some of her armies, and their goal was to force Rokarr to submit. The broodmother wasn't watching idly while this occurred. While a sizable portion of her forces were away, fighting against her other enemies, the planet was still well defended.

Swarms of mutalisks followed by some brood lords converged on Kerrigan's position. But they were met with stiff opposition, and although the group Kerrigan had brought was smaller in number, they were of higher quality. The enhanced mutalisks strains proved their worth and the dracolisks were devastatingly effective against the clumped groups of mutalisks Rokarr sent. With support from the hydralisks on the ground, Kerrigan's armies were able to hold back Rokarr's attack.

Throughout all of this, Kerrigan hardly gave the fight around her much concern, not deeming it worthy of attention as she continued to walk forward toward Rokarr's hive cluster. As a swarm of mutalisks approached from the front, coming in to attack her, Kerrigan filled the skies with a massive psionic storm, ripping apart the mutalisks in her path almost instantly, as well as killing a few brood lords that were with the mutalisks. With the way ahead clear, Kerrigan was able to advance toward Rokarr's hive cluster unimpeded.

By the time Kerrigan arrived, Rokarr was scrambling to get her forces organized, scraping together whatever she could. But her ground forces were never her strong point, and they were especially vulnerable without any air cover. They began suffering losses as Kerrigan's minions beat them back. Then, the remainder were swept aside by Kerrigan who knocked them all away, leaving the path to the center open.

As Kerrigan approached, Rokarr abandoned any remaining thoughts of resistance, as the broodmother had recognized that her position was untenable as her forces were utterly defeated. Moreover, she could sense the power of the Queen of Blades, and it was unimaginably stronger than it ever was before. It almost felt suffocating as Rokarr recognized that she was in the presence of one far more powerful.

"I surrender", Rokarr said as she prostrated on the ground. "You are our true queen. I will not dare to oppose you. Use me as you wish."

"You will serve me unquestioningly", Kerrigan said, her stare filling Rokarr with fear. "Obey me, and you will live. But if you ever decide to rebel again, there is only one fate that awaits you."

"I understand", Rokarr replied. "My brood is yours."

After Rokarr's capitulation, Kerrigan went to track down the rest of the broodmothers. However, it seems that they would come to her instead. Naktul had begun approaching her fellow broodmothers, imploring them to return to their queen's side. And while many had been unwilling initially, with Rokarr's defeat they all quickly took up the offer. Thus, the neutral broodmothers had submitted to Kerrigan and allowed Naktul to speak for them. Naktul came to Kerrigan, presenting the broods that have decided to return. Kerrigan was pleased, now the renegades were almost all collected. There was just one more remaining.

* * *

Tyuule lead the attack on Ryloth's brood, bringing with her an army of zerg along with her personal group of infested Bunny Warriors in an attack to force the rebellious broodmother into submission. After landing near Ryloth's hive cluster, they quickly went on the attack to defeat the broodmother before she could gather her forces scattered across the planet.

Of course, they had to deal with the not insignificant amount of defenders that Ryloth had at her immediate disposal. Not long after they landed, Tyuule's force was beset upon by Ryloth's army. Soon, hydralisks were exchanging fire across the battlefield while roaches fought each other in close range. Zerglings were everywhere, striking wherever they could while dying in droves, as to be expected.

Ryloth's ultralisks proved to be rather troublesome, charging into enemy lines and trampling several lines of roaches. The thick armor plating on their massive heads blocked the hydralisk spines which ended up pinging off the hard plating. While some of the ultralisks were brought down after being surrounded by roaches, there was still considerable chaos caused by the breakthrough, which Ryloth's brood took advantage of.

Then, Tyuule sprung into the fray, leaping toward a nearby ultralisk, forcing it to a halt as she slammed into it. With a push she lifted the ultralisk into the air and flipped it over as it tumbled back into the ground. Then, Tyuule jumped onto the belly of the ultralisk and began slashing downward with her claws. The ultralisk thrashed around as it was being cut open, crushing some nearby zerg in its death throes.

Once the ultralisk below her was dead, Tyuule jumped off and looked around for her next target. She spotted it, an ultralisk a short distance away that was tearing into a group of hydralisks. Tyuule ran forward, attacking the ultralisk's side. Her claws dug into the ultralisk, leaving deep gashes as she began to tear in deeper.

The ultralisk roared as it turned to face its attacker, swinging the side of one of its long blades toward Tyuule. Tyuule caught the flat side of the blade in her hands, stopping the swing in its tracks. Then, she twisted, snapping off the massive Kaiser blade. As the ultralisk staggered back, Tyuule lunged forward, jabbing the stolen blade into the ultralisk. With Tyuule's strength behind the stab, the blade shattered the ultralisk's face before burying itself deep into the head. The ultralisk slumped to the ground, dead.

Elsewhere, the other ultralisks were being killed; several of them were ganged up on by several Bunny Warriors before being torn apart. As the ultralisks began to die, Tyuule's zerg army was able to restabilize the lines and begin pushing back. However, Ryloth's army didn't collapse instantly. While an ordinary army might have its morale fall from seeing its strongest members die, a zerg army had no such concerns, and thus Ryloth's zerg fought just as hard as before.

However, the tide of the battle began to shift. Tyuule rampaged through the battlefield, seeming almost like a whirlwind as Ryloth's zerg were being torn apart rapidly. She was tough enough to ignore the hydralisks and she was fast enough to prevent Ryloth from cornering her with ultralisks. As Tyuule began breaking apart Ryloth's army, the Swarm flooded through the cracks to surround the shattered pieces of Ryloth's army.

With Ryloth's army defeated, Tyuule and her forces began advancing on Ryloth's primary hive cluster on the planet. Ryloth had scraped together some more troops that she could get her hands on, and they were currently positioned within the hive cluster to defend it. The hive cluster was ringed with multiple spine crawlers backed up by other zerg forces. Ryloth was hoping to hold out long enough to get reinforcements from her hives on the rest of the planet.

The army attacked, with Tyuule leading the charge into the hive cluster. She dashed forward rapidly, weaving through the hail of attacks. Several hydralisk spines struck, pinging off of her skin. As she approached, a spine crawler attacked, sending its spiked appendage forward to try to spear Tyuule. Instead, Tyuule sidestepped the attack at the last moment before deftly grabbing onto the tentacle, allowing herself to be pulled into the spine crawler.

Tyuule landed on top of the spine crawler as she was pulled in, allowing her to rip it apart immediately. As the surrounding defenders turned to attack her, Tyuule struck first, slaughtering the nearby zerg as they tried to attack her. Meanwhile, her own zerg forces used the chaos to advance unimpeded as the moved into the hive cluster.

Soon, Tyuule was moving deeper into the hive cluster. While the area was not wide open like before, and she couldn't make use of the numbers of her army, it was actually somewhat beneficial as her killing efficiency was even better when the enemies were funneled in. Before long, she reached the center of the hive cluster and confronted Ryloth.

The broodmother was waiting, along with a trio of ultralisks along with other assorted zerg. Ryloth spoke, "You will not defeat me! I will be the greatest of the brood mothers. And you are a mere lackey. The queen thinks she could defeat me with a minion. I will show that mistake, beginning with your death!"

Tyuule sneered. "Merely a weakling that doesn't know her place. My queen doesn't need to waste her time with you. I alone will be enough. Are you prepared to submit?"

"Hah, as if I would lose to you", Ryloth said. "If you can defeat me, then I will submit. But a broodmother will not lose so easily. We are among the greatest of the zerg."

Ryloth's ultralisks advanced toward Tyuule as they moved to surround her. Tyuule attacked the center one, slamming it back as she began clawing into its face. The other two ultralisks came around to attack. As they slashed toward Tyuule, she ducked beneath the blades before running at the other ultralisk. Tyuule wrestled with the ultralisk, eventually flipping it onto the side.

But the other ultralisks came back, coming at her from both sides. Tyuule jumped into the air, avoiding the strikes of the ultralisks which clashed with each other. Then, she landed on top of one of them and tore into its neck. Ryloth began shooting her needle spines toward Tyuule, but it only did minor damage which Tyuule was already regenerating from.

As the ultralisk fell under Tyuule's attack, the other two ultralisks had come back to attack. When she dropped to the ground, one ultralisk brought its twin blades together toward Tyuule. With the blades surrounding her as they came in from both sides, Tyuule jumped up again to avoid the strike. But when she did that, the ultralisk moved forward, slamming its head against Tyuule, knocking her backwards.

She landed in front of the other ultralisk which was using its own blades to slash inwards. Tyuule was caught in between the two blades, which crushed her between them, slashing into her sides. Tyuule grunted in anger as the blades had dug into her ribs. It was a testament to her body's strength that she wasn't bisected instantly.

As the ultralisk released her to attack again, Tyuule moved, despite her injuries. Running up to the ultralisk, she began clawing into its face. The other ultralisk came to swipe Tyuule off, but she dropped to the ground and let the ultralisk hit the other in the face. Then, she went beneath the ultralisk and struck.

The ultralisk screeched as it was attacked from a place where it couldn't attack with its own blades. Instead, it dropped downward to try to crush Tyuule below it. Although its huge mass exerted quite a lot of force, it wasn't nearly enough to stop Tyuule, who continued to rip into the ultralisk's body.

Finally, the ultralisk died and there was one remaining. The ultralisk ran at her directly, but she dodged to the side while jumping in between the blades coming around. Then, Tyuule leapt forward to slam into the ultralisk from the side, sending it careening into a pile up where her own armies were fighting against the remainder of Ryloth's forces.

Now, Tyuule advanced toward Ryloth. The broodmother began shooting spines toward Tyuule, but Tyuule was fast enough to avoid them. Ryloth tried to back up, but Tyuule was quick, immediately catching up to Ryloth. Tyuule slammed Ryloth into the ground and held her there.

"Do you submit?", Tyuule asked viciously.

"Yes, yes", Ryloth cried out in a panic. "I surrender."

Now, the fight around them died down as Ryloth ordered her brood to stand down. Ryloth knew her place now, as she had seen the limits of her own strength.

* * *

Aboard the leviathan, Kerrigan was conversing with Lelei. Kerrigan had come to realize the greater potential within psionics through the course of her time on Falmart. The magic system used by the mages of Falmart was quite ingenious in their usage of energy to affect the world.

Alternative methods of using psionics had never really been much of a thing of concern for Kerrigan. As a confederate ghost, she had learned how to read minds and enhance the speed of bullets. As the Queen of Blades, she had focused on how to create as much destruction as possible. Back then, she had simply relied on her vast power to tear everything apart. Psionic storms and explosions seemed to be sufficient. Yet, it was perhaps not the most efficient usage of psionic energy. While now that she was even more powerful, she could theoretically brute force everything, it might still be helpful to know how to use psionic energy to accomplish more esoteric effects that might be better suited for a specific task. The Xel'naga artifact had been quite the curious device to be able to do what it could. While it indeed did have great power, it used it in a far more targeted and special way.

It was for this reason that Kerrigan decided to talk with Lelei, since the young girl was quite the expert. While Kerrigan had used psionics for longer and with greater power, it had never been something she researched extensively. It was just something she had done. So, Kerrigan had decided to get a better understanding by having Lelei explain things.

"They basic principle behind these 'spells' is that energy is used to bend the laws of reality. With this, tasks could be accomplished that would normally be impossible. And since effects are determined by how much one can enforce one's will onto reality, it can often ignore physical properties. That is why psionics can be used to destroy things without regard to the material's strength", Lelei said. "Effects can be imposed on the world through various methods. The classical method used by mages on Falmart was through using incantations to focus their mind on the task. Moreover, the reason that some spells take a long time to cast is that energy needs to be gathered first. For weaker mages, it takes longer for them to cast spells."

"The benefits of using more directed efforts rather than just dumping energy into attacks is that the effect is more focused. For example, you can target a specific component rather than blasting everything. Or there can be situational benefits involved in conjuring ice for example", Lelei continued. "The basic theory isn't too hard to understand in my opinion. With that in mind you can modify your own spells to do specific tasks."

Lelei spent some time going over different energy structures and how they could be used to produce certain effects. Lelei's research had better developed the theory and improved several methods. It was interesting for Kerrigan, though a lot of the techniques weren't as necessary for someone like her who had enough energy to spare. Spells that would require many mages working together in a carefully created formation could be done on a whim by her alone. But there were a few parts where Kerrigan could see applications, though not particularly in battle, as destroying everything was normally sufficient.

Then, Kerrigan was notified that Tyuule had returned to the Leviathan, having completed her task of bringing Ryloth into submission. With Abathur having also returned with new strains, all conditions were met. The zerg swarm was assembled together with each broodmother assembling their armies.

Kerrigan called a meeting in her Leviathan where she spoke to the assembled broodmothers. "Now that we are ready, the Swarm will make its move. We shall attack the terran capital world of Korhal. The so called Emperor of the terrans will die. Ready your broods, the time for the decisive battle has come. All shall know the fury of the Swarm."


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20**

Korhal's airspace was filled with countless ships coming in and out. The planet was the capital of the Terran Dominion, and was a major hub that received a great amount of traffic each day. At any time one could see a variety of ships in the skies, ranging from simple transport ships to the battlecruisers that patrolled the skies.

It was common for space faring vessels to warp into the system and go to Korhal. But today, the new arrivals were rather different from usual. And in this case, different means that they were much larger and weren't made of metal. Zerg leviathans began arriving into the Korhal system to begin advancing on the planet.

Dozens of leviathans had arrived, carrying the bulk of the zerg swarm. As they moved to take up positions around the capital world, the fleets stationed at Korhal were quickly mobilizing. The defense fleet of Korhal was quite large, as befitting of the planet's status, but it paled in comparison to the massive leviathans.

As the Swarm blockaded the planet, the Leviathans began to unleash their drop pods to try to land the zerg ground forces on Korhal. There were tens of thousands of them dropping from space, an almost seemingly unstoppable tide. But the Dominion defenses were robust, specifically designed for such a scenario. A vast majority of the drop pods were destroyed by the planet's defenses, and Korhal's ground armies were well coordinated, allowing them to hunt down and quickly destroy any survivors before a hive cluster could grow.

After probing the defense of Korhal, Kerrigan convened a meeting aboard her leviathan to discuss their plan of attack.

"Korhal's defense network is extensive. The military installations scattered across the planet are able to destroy a vast majority of our drop pods before they reach the ground", Kerrigan said. "An attempt to force our way through with numbers will result in heavy losses."

"Then we must destroy the defenses", Zagara said.

"Indeed, it would be best to neutralize the defense network before we land the bulk of our forces", Kerrigan replied. "But the key issue here is how to do so. The military installations that make up the defensive network will be well defended by soldiers, and a significant force will be needed to destroy them. However, we cannot get such a large force to the ground without destroying the defenses first. Therein lies the problem. We have to destroy the defensive network without a ground attack, but their air defenses are strong as well."

Kerrigan turned to Lelei. "Will the magilisks be able to pierce through the defenses by shielding themselves?"

"The volume of fire coming from the planet is too high", Lelei replied. "The shields wouldn't hold long enough to allow our forces to get close enough. Of course, given a sufficient number of them we could force our way in, but that still has the original problem of suffering tremendous losses."

"I see", Kerrigan muttered. "Does anyone else have any suggestions?"

For a few moments, everyone was silent. Then, Abathur spoke up with his own suggestions. "Can modify virophage strain. Create bile launcher with projectile attacks. Attack from ground rather than air, avoid anti air defenses. Long range avoids walls."

"Hmm, that sounds like it might work", Kerrigan replied. "Abathur, can you get it done soon."

"Survival of Swarm dependent on evolution", Abathur said. "Failure unacceptable."

Ultimately, Abathur came through, and drop pods filled with the new bile launcher strain were deployed by the leviathans. Millions of them entered the atmosphere, plummeting to the surface. The planet's defenses shot into the unending swarm descending onto the planet, tearing them apart. But the zerg continued to come. Even losing most of the drop pods, there were still a few that landed on the ground.

The bile launchers began to grow on the surface, but Dominion patrols scoured the area, killing any zerg they could find. The few zerg forces that accompanied the bile launchers were unable to defeat the Dominion patrols. The bile launchers simply couldn't survive long enough to begin their attack. It was clear that bile launchers wouldn't be able to do anything alone.

Seeing this, Kerrigan decided to take action to break the deadlock. "I'm going to handle this personally", Kerrigan said before entering a drop pod.

Kerrigan's drop pod shot out from the leviathan, joining the countless others falling to the surface, being one of many that were being launched. As the drop pod came closer and closer to the planet, the defensive fire became increasingly intense. The surrounding drop pods were being torn apart, with only a few surviving by luck. Kerrigan's drop pod survived, not because it had been lucky enough to avoid the attacks but rather because Kerrigan was shielding it. The countless explosions filling the sky didn't manage to damage the drop pod which fell to the ground unimpeded.

As the drop pod approached the surface, it had exited the range of the defenses, and Kerrigan reached out with her psionic senses to examine the area. Spotting a nearby Dominion base, she telekinetically redirected the trajectory of the drop pod, pushing it to land right in the middle of the base.

The soldiers in the base received an alert that a drop pod was coming toward their base. They began moving away from the expected point of impact, but they weren't too worried. After all, they felt confident that they could deal with whatever small amount of zerg came out of it. However, the moment the drop pod reached the ground, the soldiers saw the world around them torn asunder in the brief moment before their death.

The drop pod burst open with a massive explosion of psionic energy which spread out in all directions. The soldiers were vaporized and the buildings around them ripped to shreds as the explosion flattened the area. Kerrigan arose in the midst of the rubble and observed the results of her handiwork. With the area cleared, a new hive cluster could be created.

While the drones were busy growing into buildings, the Dominion forces in the surrounding areas had found that they lost contact with one of their bases. While it could have been an equipment failure, it could have also been something more sinister. So, a detachment of infantry was sent to investigate.

As the soldiers neared the site of the base, they noticed that they still couldn't get in contact with anyone over the radio. That was rather strange as even if the command center's communication relay had failed, the short range communicators that every soldier had would still be working. They hurriedly began moving toward the base to figure out what happened.

As the soldiers climbed onto the hill, they looked forward and saw nothing left of the Dominion base that was supposed to be there. Instead, they saw large fleshy structures beginning to grow. The squad's communication officer quickly radioed back to command. "Sir, there is a zerg hive cluster growing here."

"How many zerg are nearby?", the voice on the other end asked.

"Uhh… it doesn't look like there is many. Just a few of them wandering around", the marine responded. "It looks like the hive cluster is new, permission to engage?"

The command staff gave its approval, and soon the squad began to move forward. As the soldiers advanced on the hive cluster and began preparing to shoot, they suddenly saw a figure appear from behind a zerg building. When they saw the Queen of Blades emerge, the soldiers gasped in fear. "SHOOT! SHOOT!", the squad leader yelled in a panic.

Bullets quickly began flying through the air toward Kerrigan, only to stop midair before falling to the ground. Then, Kerrigan moved toward the attackers, seeming to be a blur to the shocked marines. A blast of psionic energy blasted apart the group of soldiers as Kerrigan arrived in front of them.

One of the surviving marines turned toward Kerrigan to shoot, but before he could do so he felt his body being squeezed from all sides before being crushed. A marauder lunged forward, swinging its heavy arm toward Kerrigan, but a swift slice from Kerrigan's wing slashed through his armor and cut his body into several pieces.

After disposing of the terran assault force, Kerrigan felt the hive cluster completing. Quickly, she directed her drones to begin collecting resources and the hatchery to start producing units. It was imperative to start building up their forces before the terran defenders could bring in reinforcements.

Another drop pod had made it through the atmosphere and was now about to land. Kerrigan went to the expected landing location in order to defend the bile launcher. She wasn't the only one heading there however. The terran forces had received a notification on their sensors of the incoming drop pod, and some forces had been dispatched to take it out.

The drop pod had landed and a bile launcher was beginning to grow. At the same time, Kerrigan spotted the approaching terran forces from the cliff she was waiting on. She leapt down, landing in the middle of the soldiers. Before they could even know what was happening, they were being cut down left and right. The one tank that was with the group quickly turned its turret toward Kerrigan, but before it could begin aiming, the vehicle exploded from a blast of psionic energy.

As the bile launcher completed, it began to spew green globules of acid in an act that could best be described as projectile vomit. The bombardment of the defensive installations was beginning. Meanwhile, Kerrigan ordered some of her forces to begin guarding the bile launcher, along with constructing some defenses around it.

As the hive cluster was now developed enough to protect itself, and her forces were beginning to grow in number, Kerrigan decided that it was time to go on the offensive. There was a nearby Dominion base, and taking it out would make it harder for the Dominion to attack the hive cluster and other bile launchers.

The terran base was already on alert as news of the loss of two of their squads along with the nearby base became known. The moment they spotted the zerg queen approaching, the defenders reacted immediately. The siege tanks began firing, sending explosive shells toward Kerrigan. But the bombardment didn't manage to break through Kerrigan's psionic shield, and when the smoke cleared the defenders were shocked to see their enemy untouched.

Then, the siege tanks rose into the air and suddenly crumpled, the frame of the machine turning into a ball of metal as it crushed the occupants. The remainder of the soldiers guarded the base looked on in terror at the destruction. But this would only be the beginning as Kerrigan was now walking into the base itself.

The bunkers were practically worthless as the psionic blasts burst right through the thick neosteel and killed the occupants instantly. As the remaining marines began running away, a large psionic storm formed above, massacring the crowd of marines as well as beginning to rip apart the structures.

With the base wrecked, the zerg forces could begin entrenching themselves here as they awaited the arrival of the next drop pod. The area had some resources so another hatchery was set up for resource collection. An army of zerg began to gather at this outpost. Then, another drop pod came down, landing with a bile launcher.

This time, the Dominion forces in the region gathered up nearly all of their available offensive capability to launch an assault. The commander recognized that the situation was deteriorating rapidly, and with the loss of another base, the zerg would only grow stronger. Thus, it was necessary to put all they had in this attack.

A group of banshees approached the zerg positions for a bombing run, but they were intercepted by mutalisks. The mutalisks began attacking the banshees, forcing them to back off while their viking escort moved in to engage the mutalisks. However, these mutalisks were quite tough, and the vikings were locked in a tough battle for control of the skies. Ultimately, it was difficult for the terran air forces to obtain the upper hand, especially as hydralisks were now moving up to support, so the Dominion pulled back its air assets after taking heavy losses.

Now, the bulk of the army was arriving. There were legions of marines, along with firebats and marauders. Behind them were the mechanized forces - the goliaths, siege tanks, and thors. The siege tanks began taking up positions near the zerg forces, entering into siege mode.

As the siege tanks were getting into position, the zerg attacked. Swarms of zerglings rushed forward, with roaches and hydralisks following shortly behind. The firebats managed to hold back the tide of zerglings, with a sea of flames burning the approaching zerg. As the hydralisks moved up, they began shooting at the firebats. Several of the firebats exploded in a burst of flame as their suit was punctured by the hydralisk spines.

However, a sudden barrage put a stop to the hydralisks' attack. The siege tanks had finished entering siege mode, and their first barrage had devastated the closely packed hydralisks. As the siege tanks began providing support, the zerg armies were sent reeling by the devastation. Suddenly, the barrage was interrupted as Kerrigan leapt into the tanks..

A portion of the terran army was wiped out as a massive explosion of psionic energy as Kerrigan directed her power to tear through the surrounding areas. With the terran battle line disrupted, the zerg armies began to flood in as they began to overwhelm the Dominion army.

Kerrigan was ripping through the terran soldiers, as well as tossing out a few more psionic storms to thin their numbers. Then, the thors held in reserve quickly moved in to surround Kerrigan, having given orders to intervene to plug the breach. The thors turned to the most eye catching target as they aimed their cannons. All at once, dozens of thors began emptying their 250mm cannons into the Queen of Blades.

The ground around Kerrigan exploded as the bombardment covered the area. Despite the overwhelming firepower deployed against her, Kerrigan was still able to shield herself against the attack, having more than enough power at her disposal to do so. At the same time, the thors began exploding as Kerrigan destroyed them one by one.

Once the thors were eliminated, there was nothing stopping the Swarm from rushing in and tearing apart the remnants of the terran army. The remnants of the army started to flee, but the Swarm began to chase them down. Lines of fleeing marines were overtaken by the rush of zerglings before being torn to shreds.

With most of the terran forces in the region destroyed, it was time to move onto wiping out the remainder of the defenders in the region. The bile launchers were continuing to land, now able to do their task unimpeded in the lands occupied by the zerg. The Dominion couldn't spare any forces to take them out, as they were all needed to defend against the incoming zerg attack.

Mutalisks swarmed into the terran base, picking off tanks and scattered marines. Meanwhile, the assault on the front was occuring. Banelings were rolling into the base, blowing through the walls and bunkers. The hydralisks moved forward, whittling away at the marines. Meanwhile, zerglings attacked everything that moved.

The Dominion forces didn't stand a chance, and though they fought valiantly, it was ultimately meaningless against the zerg onslaught. The bile launchers had finished destroying the majority of the terran defensive emplacements in this area of the planet, allowing for the leviathans to begin dropping down the zerg armies in full force. Soon, millions of drop pods began landing around Augustgrad and the vast Swarm began to assemble.

Finally, the Swarm advanced on the gates of Augustgrad. The Dominion forces had begun fleeing behind the walls of the city, having abandoned the outlying outposts across the planet. All that was left were the defensive encampments guarding each of the gates. The zerg rushed forward toward the first gate. With the support of ultralisks, they were able to begin assaulting the defensive position.

The terran base was constructed in a good location, one that was very defensible. This had made it difficult for the zerg to bring the bulk of their strength in the attack. But with Kerrigan destroying the most critical areas of the terran defense, the Dominion forces crumpled and were overrun by the Swarm.

With the path cleared, Kerrigan approached the first gate with the zerg armies at her back. Then, she stopped some distance away before extending her arm forward. The gates began to groan as Kerrigan began using her psionic powers on the gate. The massive metal structure ripped itself apart as the defenders watched in shock. A massive open hole opened in the city's walls, allowing the zerg to begin flooding through.

Then, Kerrigan led her forces to attack the second gate. The defenders around the gate had already heard of what happened to the first gate, so they endeavored to prevent Kerrigan from getting close. They had a line of siege tanks with thors in front, and they were even able to requisition several battlecruisers.

When Kerrigan and her army approached, the siege tanks began to fire into the zerg. But while they failed to hurt Kerrigan, the converse was not true as the psionic storms began tearing apart the terran forces. The battlecruisers began preparing to unleash their Yamato blasts on Kerrigan, but the captains of the ships soon found their ships unresponsive as the battlecruisers were crushed. The remainder of the Dominion forces rallied around the planetary fortress stationed outside the gates, but it soon fell as well as guardians bombarded it from above. The second gate fell as the first did.

As Kerrigan approached the final gate, the Dominion forces around it had already evacuated as they saw no point in further resistance. Kerrigan smirked as she walked past the empty base, her enemies apparently already so frightened to give up so soon. As she began focusing on the gate, twisting the metal and tearing it from the foundation, a massive explosion erupted beneath her.

The Dominion had buried a nuclear bomb below the ground, detonating it when Kerrigan approached. It had caught her by surprise, and she was forced to shield herself at the last moment. Although she was slightly singed by the explosion, for the most part Kerrigan was just annoyed by it, taking her anger out by ripping apart the last gate. Since the zerg around her had been killed by the blast, some of her other forces were redirected here. But soon, the Swarm began invading Augustgrad, and the Dominion armies were in full retreat.

At this point, Arcturus Mengsk ordered the activation of one of his secret weapons, in order to block the advance of the zerg.


	21. Chapter 21

**Chapter 21**

With the full weight of the Swarm descending upon Augustgrad, the Dominion forces were scrambling to hold back the zerg. A large portion of the army had been garrisoned across the entire planet to guard against drop pods from every angle, but now that a hole had been punched in the defensive network, that task was now moot. The Dominion forces began to pull back toward the capital, but Augustgrad was under a huge amount of pressure.

The zerg were flooding through the broken gates, and the Dominion army was struggling to hold back the massive tide of zerg. There was just too much, too many of them to handle. The reinforcements they were counting on would take some time to arrive. The situation was deteriorating, but suddenly the zerg began dying in droves.

All of the zerg in the area began falling to the ground as their bodies began being torn apart by an unseen force. Mengsk had activated the Psi Destroyer, a potent device which targeted the zerg's hive mind. With the use of the Psi Destroyer, the zerg advance was halted and the Dominion army was able to retake the city and begin rebuilding the defenses.

Kerrigan immediately ordered the surviving zerg to pull back to a distance away from the Psi Destroyer's field. Already, the Dominion armies were advancing, with some attacking the zerg forces to pick away at them before retreating back under the protection of the Psi Disruptor. With the zerg retreat, the battle quieted down as the Dominion began to make more defensive preparations.

Lelei soon came to Kerrigan with her findings regarding the Dominion's new weapon. "The device deployed by the terrans makes use of the Swarm's hive mind connection", Lelei said. "The energy waves emitted by the device utilize the same channels as the psi connection and essentially overload a zerg with energy, causing its body to fall apart."

"Hmm… How troublesome", Kerrigan muttered. "It looks like Arcturus has been doing his own research to replace the lost Psi Disruptor which was used to great effect during the Brood War." Kerrigan turned to Abathur. "Do you have a way to modify the zerg to become resistant to this form of attack?"

"Adaptation difficult", Abathur replied. "Attack comes primarily from mental vectors. Physical adaptation ineffective. Hive mind present in all zerg. Is most critical component. Removal impossible. Making zerg resistant also reduces efficacy of hivemind control. No clear solution."

"I might be able to do something", Lelei suddenly said. "Trying to counter it with physical adaptations is going in the wrong direction. The energy waves won't be affected by carapace as it directly attacks the body through the hive mind connection. However, I think I can come up with a way to block the psionic emanations of the Psi Destroyer while still allowing our own communications to pass through."

"That sounds workable. Lelei, you get on it now. Meanwhile, I will prepare our forces to attack the Psi Destroyer", Kerrigan said. "Zagara, Tyuule, you two hold the line in case the Dominion decides to go on the offensive."

* * *

It didn't take long for Lelei to prepare her solution, a spell which created a shield that blocked the Psi Destroyer's field. However, the spell needed to be maintained somehow, and the magilisks were fit for the task. Each of them could provide an area of safety for the zerg to travel under and allow them to operate under the Psi Destroyer's field. Now, the zerg moved on the Psi Destroyer, ready to destroy it.

The first few magilisks floated in, and the zerg armies followed, landing on the platform where the Psi Destroyer was located. Initially, the Dominion forces were caught by surprise, thinking that it would be impossible for zerg to get so close. The Swarm was able to establish a foothold, building up a new hive cluster to prepare to destroy the main hub of the Psi Destroyer. Magilisks floated about, blocking out the Psi Destroyer's emanations and allowing the zerg to move in.

Soon, the terran forces had taken notice of the zerg attacking, and they quickly mustered up an army to destroy the zerg before they could further entrench themselves. There was a large infantry group along with some siege tanks and hellions. The hellions ran in first, burning a few lines of zerglings before retreating. As the zerg began to give chase, the infantry stepped forward as the hellions transformed into hellbats while the siege tanks took up their positions in siege mode.

The initial zerg wave was rebuffed by the hellbats and marines and the tanks began to bombard any approaching zerg. Then, Kerrigan used a psionic storm to tear apart the terran army's center, and through the gap the zerg began flooding through.

While the siege tanks were thinning out the rush of zerg, Kerrigan jumped into the fray herself. The tanks began firing at her, but the shots barely inconvenienced the Queen of Blades, who strolled through the hail of artillery fire by relying on her psionic abilities to protect herself. As she pushed forward, what remained of the Dominion force cracked and routed. The remnants of the terran attack force fled, though the zerg didn't pursue as they needed to magilisks to move forward first. Though Lelei's solution had helped the Swarm avoid most of the problems of the Psi Destroyer, it still hampered mobility somewhat.

With the Dominion attack defeated, the zerg were able to entrench themselves near the Psi Destroyer and begin to build up their forces. The defenses around the Psi Destroyer was quite extensive. While Mengsk had been quite confident in his device, he was still quite cautious, and thus had built significant defenses around the Psi Destroyer. In the months prior he had spent more resources strengthening the defenses and making the system more robust so that it would no longer be dependent on the exposed power links to operate. Now, the Swarm had to pick apart these layers of defenses.

The zerg first struck toward the nearby base that was a short distance away from the hive cluster. It was currently the primary staging point for Dominion attacks. A group of ultralisks led the charge, forcing their way through the bunkers while the zerglings and other zerg forces flooded in behind through the opening. As the siege tanks were overrun, the remaining marines were surrounded and killed by the roaches. Soon, the base was nothing but rubble, and a new hatchery was established at the location.

After securing the location, the zerg didn't waste much time. After leaving a magilisk over the base to protect it from the Psi Disruptor's field, the main zerg army began to move forward toward the next concentration of Dominion soldiers. As the zerg struck, they began to make good headway, beginning to overrun the first line of bunkers and forcing the terran forces to retreat.

However, a situation in the rear forced the zerg to turn back. A few vikings had attacked the new outpost, killing the magilisk hovering above. While the few hydralisks guarding the base quickly shot the vikings down, the damage had been done. With the magilisk that was maintaining the protective field gone, the Psi Destroyer quickly began wreaking havoc on the remaining zerg in the area. Kerrigan felt quite irritated. Not only did this set back their advance, it also meant that the terrans now knew a weak point to exploit.

Once the zerg army returned, they reclaimed the area and new magilisks were deployed to hold the base. This time, a larger guarding force was assigned and there were redundant magilisks in case one died. There was also another group of magilisks ordered to create a psionic shield formation to protect them from attack. While this would no doubt be effective, it did slow down their plans as they needed to gather more magilisks to support their army.

Finally, the Swarm reformed their forces to attack the terran fortifications once again. The Dominion had reorganized, concentrating their forces here to prevent the zerg from breaking through. As the zerg rushed in, they were met with heavy resistance. Even the ultralisks began to fall under the concentrated attacks of several thors. Hundreds of zerglings charged at the planetary fortress, which continued to hold strong against the waves of zerg attacks.

Kerrigan reached out and grasped the planetary fortress psionically before ripping it from the ground. The massive structure folded in on itself as it collapsed from the pressure exerted by Kerrigan's powers. The zerg rushed into the opening and began tearing into the terran lines, though the attacking zerg still took sizable losses from the tanks and marines.

Then, the Dominion sent in a large fleet of air forces, in an attempt to strike against the magilisks that were protecting the zerg army. The initial barrage of missiles from the vikings managed to overwhelm the shields and kill several magilisks, but the backups were able to pick up the slack. However, the vikings didn't relent in their attack as they came around for another round. This time, they were met with a psionic storm that tore through the majority of them. While the ships attempted evasive maneuvers, it was quite useless when the psionic energy was literally filling the entire sky. The few surviving vikings were shot down by the hydralisks.

With the zerg gaining air superiority, the mutalisks and brood lords began bombarding the terran armies from above, destroying defensive emplacements and siege tanks while the dracolisks strafed groups of marines, burning them to crisps. The marines and goliaths managed to shoot down some of the flying units, but there were always more that continued to come.

The Dominion forces were outnumbered badly, and with their defensive line broken their position became untenable. With the withdrawal of the surviving troops, the zerg continued to advance. Now, the path ahead was split into two ways to get atop the plateau. To put pressure on the defenders, Kerrigan split the army to crush the main terran base from both sides. While one army stuck from the left, Kerrigan would lead an army from the right and the air forces would assault the base from above.

The brood lords were somewhat effective, being able to pick away at the defenders unopposed by the terran air units, but progress was slow since the anti air defenses were still quite robust. However, Kerrigan was leading a steady advance along the right side, repeatedly driving back the Dominion's counterattacks.

Meanwhile, the other zerg army seemed to be making significant inroads as well. But suddenly, the Dominion launched its counterattack, deploying all of the remaining air power that it had in reserve. As the siege tanks disrupted the zerg army and the infantry moved in to push back against the zerg advance, the vikings came in, striking precisely at the magilisks.

At first, the shield around the magilisks protected them from the missiles, but as the barraged continued the shield broke, and the magilisks started dying. A few scattered, but without the cover of the shield the far quicker vikings were able to chase them down. The hydralisks turned to shoot the vikings, but they were disrupted when a flight of banshees descended on a bombing run.

The backup group of magilisks were still in formation, but the vikings soon turned their attention toward them as well. In addition, several thors were shooting into the air as well. When the second group of magilisks were killed, the zerg army was left vulnerable to the Psi Destroyer. Within minutes, the zerg army on the left flank had been obliterated.

At this point, the terran commander decided to risk everything on one final gambit, seeing as the situation was still deteriorating. The terran army moved out, heading straight for the zerg hive cluster. With a sizable portion of the zerg army destroyed, the terran forces could advance more or less unimpeded.

The Dominion's forces arrived at the main zerg hive cluster to launch a final assault. Some more zerg forces had been gathered up, and it would be enough to hold off an attack, but the hive cluster had only a few magilisks as it had sent most of them off in the attack since it had seemed that the hive cluster was relatively safe. Kerrigan was bringing her army back to defend, but it needed some time to return.

Though the Dominion's air forces were quite depleted by this point, they were still enough to pick off the few magilisks as they faced little opposition in the air. The hydralisks managed to down most of the vikings, but it wasn't enough to prevent the remainder from killing off the magilisks.

As the magic shield against the Psi Destroyer fell, the terran commander let out a sigh of relief, as it seemed that they would be able to completely wipe out the zerg's foothold on the platform, and then turn around to catch the remaining zerg in between their forces. However, another magic shield sprung up immediately, covering the entire hive cluster and some more.

Though it had taken several magilisks to maintain the shield over a large area, there was now just one individual doing so. Lelei had come to further study the Psi Destroyer and to make tweaks to the magilisks to increase their effectiveness, but now she had to take direct action to stabilize the situation. The terran commander was surprised to see the zerg still unaffected by the Psi Destroyer, but he soon located the cause. After all, a glowing humanoid figure in the middle of the zerg is rather conspicuous.

While this was troublesome, the terran commander simply decided that it was one more target to take out. The banshees began flying in to attack. While many of them died to the hydralisks, there were still some that made it through. But even while Lelei was maintaining the counter field to the Psi Disruptor, she was still able to spare enough energy to shield herself from banshees. As the banshees flew away, several magic missiles emerged from the smoke, striking down them down from the air.

Now, the Dominion made one last assault. The marines ran in, shooting at the approaching zerg while the siege tanks and thors provided cover. The ultralisks posed a great threat, cleaving apart dozens of marines with each strike. But enough siege tanks could even bring down an ultralisk. However, Lelei added her own power to the fight, striking down the siege tanks from afar with precise and focused attacks.

The terran offensive was stalled, and that was all that was needed. As Kerrigan arrived from behind with her army, the Dominion's assault force was crushed between the hammer and the anvil. With the disintegration of the backline and the loss of mechanical support, the marines were cut off and surrounded, soon to be torn apart by the ravenous zerglings.

Now, the zerg army advanced on the hub of the Psi Destroyer, ready to crush the accursed device in one last attack. By now, the Dominion armies guarding the Psi Destroyer were basically completely spent, and there was only a few men left to face the oncoming rush of zerg. The outlying bunkers were crushed, and finally Kerrigan began approaching the main structure of the Psi Destroyer.

Suddenly, a fleet of battlecruisers approached. Mengsk had sent most of his fleet to reinforce the Psi Destroyer once he heard about the attack. Now, the battlecruisers flew in as the defenders were making their last stand.

Flocks of mutalisks and corruptors flew upwards to clash with the Dominion fleet. As the dense cloud of zerg approached, several yamato blasts shot out. However, they didn't aim for the mutalisks, rather the yamato cannons were aimed at very specific targets. The yamato blasts blew through the groups of magilisks that were forming a protective shield, and once the defensive formation was scattered, the battlecruisers began concentrating their fire to kill off the stragglers.

The zerg army was suddenly exposed to the full brunt of the Psi Disruptor's field, and they began taking heavy damage, especially the mutalisks which soon began dropping like flies. This close to the Psi Disruptor, even Kerrigan felt some pain in the brief moments of exposure before she turned her attention toward protecting herself and some of the zerg around her from the Psi Destroyer.

The battlecruisers turned to focus on their next target. With the zerg that were attacking them falling to pieces the battlecruisers flew forwards in formation, charging up their yamato cannons. Then, they unleashed their volley on the Queen of Blades, pummeling her with dozens of yamato blasts. Then, they followed up with a continuous barrage from the laser weapons, peppering the area to obliterate what was left.

The entire area had been completely scoured, with a massive crater where Kerrigan had stood. The zerg that were around her had been vaporized in the first instants and even the queen herself wasn't in good shape. An entire fleet's firepower was devastating, and if this had been before Kerrigan had gained the power she now possessed, she would have been reduced to cinders. Even so, the attack had overwhelmed even the most powerful shields she had protected herself with.

Kerrigan was practically a blackened skeleton, with much of her body have its flesh scorched off in the massive bombardment. Even still, her body was beginning to repair itself, as she used her psionic energy to directly create new flesh. However, the battlecruisers weren't letting up as they continued to hammer her with their weapons.

Kerrigan let out a scream of rage, and the space around her trembled. The battlecruisers began to crack into pieces, the armored hull bursting from the unprecedented amount of psionic energy filling the area. The battlecruisers crashed to the ground around Kerrigan, sending debris flying in all directions. Kerrigan got up on her feet slowly, her injuries and the recent exertion taking quite a toll on her. But nevertheless her eyes burned with rage as she faced the Psi Destroyer, which she could still feel hammering at her mind through the psi connection as she focused her power toward blocking it.

The remaining defenders around the Psi Destroyer were long gone, the aftershocks of Kerrigan's battle with the Dominion fleet having wiped out any stragglers. Even the Psi Destroyer wasn't in very good shape as a fallen battlecruiser had crashed into it. Facing the massive structure, Kerrigan gathered her energy before focusing a massive explosion into the Psi Destroyer, ripping apart what remained of it.

After Kerrigan returned to her Leviathan for a brief rest, it was time for the final battle. With the Psi Destroyer eliminated, there would be nothing left to stop the Swarm. The Dominion had retaken the outskirts of Augustgrad, but their brief reprieve was over.

Zerg flooded into the city, their relentless offensive now unimpeded. As Kerrigan walked into Augustgrad, she gazed over the city before speaking. Her voice, broadcasted by her psionic powers, echoed throughout the city. "All of your little tricks have failed, Arcturus. There is nothing left to save you now. I have trampled your armies and destroyed your fleets with my might alone. Nothing can stand in my way now. Are you ready to die?"

While many of the Dominion soldiers were quite shaken after Kerrigan's pronouncement, a few moments later the Emperor broadcast his address. "You never should have come back to Korhal. Even your vaunted powers cannot protect you now. Behold, the might of the Dominion, the result of human tenacity and ingenuity, to create the ultimate weapon.:

With this, Arcturus Mengsk gave orders to have the final contingency to be activated. The die is cast, the victor will be decided here.


	22. Chapter 22

**Chapter 22**

A pair of massive doors on the side of the imperial palace opened, and inside the chamber were several large containment pods. They were now open, and their former inhabitants were now exiting onto the plaza in front of the palace, approaching the object set up in the middle of the plaza.

The inhuman beings, the hybrids, glided up to the Xel'naga artifact and took up positions around it. The area was filled with Dominion soldiers, given orders to protect the eight hybrids as they began combining their power within the artifact. A great deal of the human soldiers were quite repulsed by the grotesque aliens, but they were told that the creatures were on their side and would help them defeat the zerg. Even though many of them had doubts about whether they could keep control over the monstrosities, their orders were very clear - protect the artifact and the hybrids while they did their work.

On the other side of the city, Kerrigan was leading the zerg assault, striding forward with determined purpose as she obliterated the enemies in her way. "It is finally time", Kerrigan said to Lelei and Tyuule. "Today will be the day that Mengsk falls. I will have my vengeance at last, and no one will be able to stand in my way."

As Kerrigan stepped forward, she suddenly let out a scream of pain as she fell to her knees, clutching her head with her hands. Lelei and Tyuule, alarmed at this sudden turn of events, immediately stepped forward in front of their queen to guard her as they scanned the surroundings for threats while Kerrigan continued to writhe on the ground, facing an attack far more intense than she had ever experienced.

The hybrids, the prized work of Dr. Narud that was developed on Skygeirr station, used the artifact to combine and amplify their own powers to launch a massive mental attack on Kerrigan. With their powers pooled together, boosted by the artifact, their strength had reached massive levels, enough for them to decide the fate of a battlefield if they were to decide to do so. It was only due to her incredible power that Kerrigan was even able to resist the attack. If it had been the old Queen of Blades, powerful as she had been, she still would have been crushed instantly. Even now, having taken the gods' power, Kerrigan was still barely holding on.

Still, after a few moments, Kerrigan was able to stabilize herself, having succeeded for the time being at repelling the hybrid dominators from her mind. Even now, the hybrids continued to batter against her mind, forcing Kerrigan to devote nearly all of her concentration toward the battle. She slowly pushed herself back on her feet.

"My queen, what is happening?", a distressed Lelei asked.

"It seems that Mengsk has several pet hybrids that are attacking my mind", Kerrigan replied. "I am holding them off, but only just."

"You should return to safety", Lelei said. "Let us do the fighting. We will defeat your enemies for you. You can count on us."

"No", Kerrigan said sharply. "I have to do this. I have waited too long for this day. I will not be sitting on the sidelines. I want to rip apart Arcturus's empire with my own hands."

"You are in no condition to fight", Lelei protested. "You don't have to push yourself like this."

"This is my fight!", Kerrigan shouted. "I won't cower away from Mengsk at the last moment. I can still fight. Even if my mind is too strained right now for me to use my psionic abilities, I will not be stopped. I will rip apart every damn marine with my own hands if I have to!"

"But-" Lelei began to say before being interrupted by Tyuule.

"I understand", Tyuule said. "This is personal for her, and she will fight, as to be expected. Still, that doesn't mean you have to do it alone. I have sworn to serve you, and I will fight alongside you here."

"As will I", Lelei said. "At least allow us to do this even if you insist on taking to the battle yourself."

"Fine", Kerrigan said. "Just don't get in my way."

* * *

Not long after the activation of the artifact, Mengsk had ordered his forces to begin making probing attacks to test the zerg. If they had indeed been thrown into chaos, then now would be the best time to strike. One such force of elite Dominion soldiers were currently advancing forward.

As they turned the corner around the block, they were struck by an ambush from lurkers buried below the ground. The marines in the front here impaled by the spikes that speared out from beneath them. As the marines scattered and began to run backwards, a swarm of zerglings rushed forward at the marines, who quickly began shooting while backing up.

Suddenly, Kerrigan dropped from above, having leapt down from a nearby building. She landed on top of a marine, killing him instantly as her feet rammed through his chest. Her wings quickly swung around and slashed through several marines around her. The soldiers around her were quite shocked by the sudden attack, but some of them quickly turned their guns away from the zerglings to shoot at the zerg queen.

But as they were doing so, Kerrigan was already on the move, stepping toward the nearest marine and cutting him in half. Bullets began to fill the air as the marines began to shoot toward Kerrigan, but she was moving quickly, faster than the marines could aim their guns. As Kerrigan dashed back and forth among the marines, leaving a line of corpses in her wake, most of the bullets missed her as she dodged them. Some of them did hit, by virtue of the sheer number of shots being fired, but even those shots impacted and bounced off of the carapace on her chest, failing to injure her.

Another individual had joined in as Tyuule followed Kerrigan in attacking the group of soldiers. Tyuule tore through the soldiers with a savage fury, her claws tearing a marine into two pieces with a single slash. The marines were trying to target her as well, but they also weren't having much luck with that either. Meanwhile, the flurry of bullets aimed toward the zerglings had slackened, and now the zerglings were upon them, tearing into the Dominion force.

As Kerrigan pulled her wings out of the corpse of yet another marine, a nearby marauder shot at her, knocking her off balance with the explosive force of the grenade. Kerrigan began moving toward the marauder who shot a second time, the grenade explosion staggering her, though not managing more than scratching her carapace. Before the marauder could attack again, Kerrigan rammed through its suit of armor with her wings.

The other marauders shot at Kerrigan, who pulled her wings, still embedded in the marauder armor, in front her her to block the shots. While most of the shots coming from the front were blocked, there were still several marauders behind her who managed to nail Kerrigan with a direct hit from the back, knocking her over into the ground. The next barrage of explosive grenades even managed to crack Kerrigan's carapace in several places.

However, this was hardly going to be enough as Kerrigan was already getting back up to attack. As the marauders loaded in their next grenades, one was tackled from behind by Tyuule, who struck the unfortunate marauder with such force that his armor was instantly caved in. Then, Tyuule's claws ripped through her next target as she kicked another marauder into the wall. Kerrigan used this chance to get in close, dodging a few grenades, before slicing into the other marauders.

The remainder of the terran soldiers began to run, but as they were trying to run away, a wall of ice appeared in front of them, cutting off their retreat. Lelei followed up by shooting at them with magic missiles as she began toward them. With the zerglings swarming in, the remaining Dominion soldiers were quickly finished off. With a few other attacks being repelled in other areas around the city, the Dominion began pulling back its forces into more defensible positions.

A large concentration of Dominion forces were currently guarding a bridge. The zerg were already streaming across it by the thousands. Ultralisks, roaches, and hydralisks filled the bridge while zerglings scampered between them. Siege tanks bombarded the approaching zerg, turning the area into an inferno of death. Even the few ultralisks that managed to make it across were killed by the thors before they could breach the bunker line.

In the skies, mutalisks fought with vikings while the thors and missile turrets provided support from below. Dracolisks dived into the fray to tear apart a few vikings, but the barrage of missiles coming from both below and above forced them to retreat. There were several magilisks, too far away to take out the siege tanks as they were kept away by the vikings. The sudden winds and flurries of ice generated by the magilisks blew some of the vikings off course and damaged some components, but even still the Dominion's air wing was holding steady with a few battlecruisers being sent to reinforce.

When Kerrigan, Lelei, and Tyuule arrived, they looked over at the battlefield, which was still in a bloody deadlock. It was quite a troublesome situation, as simply trying to walk across the bridge probably wasn't the best of ideas. But that just meant that they would have to do something more.

Lelei stepped forward and energy built up around her as she began conjuring an opaque fog. The fog descended, covering the bridge and obscuring it from sight. In addition, the heat of the magic fog was even able to obscure the thermal sensors used by the Dominion forces. Then, Lelei projected a shield around her before heading in, with Kerrigan and Tyuule next to her.

Kerrigan and Tyuule began dashing across the bridge, with Tyuule carrying Lelei who was still maintaining the shield above them. Though the terran forces couldn't see what was on the bridge, the tanks nevertheless continued to fire, the explosions continuing to destroy countless zerg. Simply covering the entire bridge with tank shots was enough to stem the tide of zerg regardless of accuracy. As the three of them moved through, there were several times when they were hit by a shot from a tank. Lelei's shield was able to block the shots, though things would have gone differently if all of the shots were focused on them.

When they emerged from the haze, the nearby soldiers were quite surprised, not having expected more than a stray zergling to make it through. One marine instinctively began firing toward Kerrigan, only for the bullets to bounce off her chest ineffectively. A moment later, his life ended when Kerrigan's wing took his head off.

Kerrigan immediately turned toward the nearby tank, ignoring the marines to the side. Her wings dug deep into the side of the tank, ripping through the armored plating. The strike sliced open the engine, causing the fuel to explode, destroying the tank. Tyuule was doing the same as well, tearing through the tanks on the other side. Meanwhile, Lelei was mopping up the scattered infantry in the area.

After several moments had passed and several tanks had exploded, the other siege tanks began to take notice as they turned away from their assigned targets in a panic as the spun their turret to face the attackers. One tank had just turned around, only to find Tyuule already atop it. Unable to fire a shell at close range, the crew of the siege tank could do nothing as the claws dug into the tank and killed them.

The other tanks began shooting at Tyuule as she ran toward the next tank. But the shots missed as she ran across the distance, arriving at her target within moments. As she destroyed the tank, she was suddenly blasted to the side by a massive explosion. The other tanks had decided that tracking her during movement would be impossible, and thus the only choice was to shoot their own tank when Tyuule went to attack it.

The attack had hurt, somewhat, having broken through Tyuule's carapace and shot some shrapnel into her. Still, this was only a small annoyance as she had gotten up almost immediately, with her wounds closing rapidly. Tyuule returned to destroying the siege tanks, wrecking the few that remained.

As Tyuule destroyed the last tank, she was unexpectedly knocked to the ground by a barrage of cannon shells as a thor began unloading its payload into her, pounding her into the dirt. When Tyuule began to get up the moment the barrage stopped, a second thor had opened fire into her. The repeated attacks were finally managing to do some damage, as her chest was now resembling a torn up mess with several ribs broken.

As the thors prepared their next attack, one suddenly crashed into the ground as Kerrigan leapt into it with great force. The thor slammed its arm toward Kerrigan, only for the arm to be sliced off by her wing. Then, Kerrigan smashed through the cockpit of the downed thor, killing the pilot. But immediately afterwards, the second thor began firing at her, battering her somewhat.

Tyuule took this chance to attack, smashing into the thor and ripping a hole into its side and crumpling an arm. Kerrigan struck from the other side, staggering the thor which began to fall as one of its legs was ripped apart. However, with its other leg the thor kicked away Tyuule into a nearby bunker, which caved in from the impact.

Still, the thor was on its last leg, and another flurry of strikes from Kerrigan finished it off, leaving it to fall to the ground as nothing more than scrap metal. Suddenly, several vikings which had spotted what was going on landed in a circle surrounding Kerrigan, who had just extricated herself from the rubble of the thor.

The landed vikings immediately opened fire with their gatling cannons, armaments much stronger than the gauss rifles used by marines. Kerrigan was struck from all sides by the rapid fire from the vikings, with the impact of the projectiles chipping away at her carapace which had already been weakened from the earlier fights. Before long the large bullets were burying themselves in the body of the Queen of Blades as she was driven to her knees by the overwhelming assault. Her wings had been shredded immediately, and she was just barely able to push herself off the ground and launch herself toward one of the vikings.

However, the vikings didn't let up on their assault, even as the shots tore through their comrade. The vikings had done so unhesitantly, as expected of the elite forces. As the vikings continued to perforate Kerrigan to make her bleed out on the ground, a mound of tough stone conjured by Lelei suddenly emerged from the ground, blocking the vikings' shots.

As the vikings began to shoot through the stone, they were struck by another attack who came in from behind. Tyuule immediately smashed apart one viking, before turning on the others. She weaved in and out of the shots, only taking a few hits, before tearing through another viking. Also, Kerrigan had emerged from behind the rock to finish off the last viking, with her wounds already mostly healed.

More vikings flew overhead, but streams of magic missiles from Lelei began striking them down, causing most of them to crash into the ground. The remainder landed, but this time Kerrigan and Tyuule were more than ready to dismantle them the moment they reached the ground.

Now that the tanks were destroyed, the zerg had been able to cross the bridge, and they were now streaming forward in full force as they started their attack. The ultralisks broke what remained of the defensive emplacements while the zerglings flooded the area, tearing into anything they could get their jaws on. Very quickly, the base was being overrun, and even the air support wasn't able to stop the attack. With hydralisks moving in to join the fight against the Dominion's air forces, the remainder of the defenders quickly began to retreat, having taken severe losses.

The collapse of the Dominion's outpost here greatly weakened their defenses in other areas, as zerg were now streaming in from other angles. Before long, the fortifications in other areas had fallen as well, and the remainder of the terran forces had regrouped in the area around the imperial palace. Most of Augustgrad had fallen, but the remaining resistance outside the palace was still fierce.

Outside of that, there were still some scattered pockets of Dominion soldiers, trapped in their holdouts that were surrounded by zerg. Although the narrow streets of the city provided some help, the zerg continued to stream through the streets, slowly overwhelming the survivors. In such areas, the terran forces had taken cover inside buildings, but it could only hold on for so long before the zerg tore the structures down. Collapsed skyscrapers were common.

Still, most of the buildings were still intact as they hadn't seen much fighting since the Dominion had retreated quickly. It wouldn't have been in the Swarm's interest to tear down every skyscraper; not only would it take time, it would also hamper their own movement by blocking the streets.

The streets were mostly silent in the zerg controlled areas of the city, where resistance had ended. Any people living in the city were barricaded within their homes, none of them having delusions of sacrificing their life trying ineffectually to fight the zerg with makeshift weapons. Kerrigan was walking down the street along with Lelei and Tyuule, as they began to head toward the imperial palace, which was the only remaining site of battle. Once the zerg forces broke through, they could finally destroy those damnable hybrids. Kerrigan gritted her teeth as her head throbbed with pain once more as the hybrids continued to push their mental assault.

Suddenly, Kerrigan spotted a glint out of the corner of her eye and she instinctively moved, a mere moment before a bullet whizzed past her head. But despite dodging a few of them, Kerrigan was still struck by several other fast moving sniper rounds which had their speed enhanced by the ghosts that shot them. In the nearby buildings, there were a dozen ghosts hiding to launch the ambush.

The kill team made up of the Dominion's top specialists was sent by Mengsk with orders to kill the Queen of Blades. Their initial volley, though it wasn't as successful as they hoped, still managed to land several hits. Kerrigan felt the enhanced bullets break through her carapace, followed by her insides suddenly exploding in pain. Kerrigan gasped as she rolled on the ground. What kind of ammunition were they using that was strong enough to both pierce carapace that was strong enough to withstand tank rounds, and which also exploded? Such would be complete overkill for any normal mission, being enough to obliterate a human body instantly, but it looks like they had made a special effort just for her.

Immediately after the first shots struck, Lelei instantly conjured a shield around them, which blocked the next set of shots from the dozen ghosts around them. With the second set of shots, the positions of the ghosts were now exposed. It had seemed that ten of the ghosts were in a building just up ahead while the other two were in separate buildings some distance away, probably to act as spotters.

Dropping the shield momentarily, Lelei sent a blast of energy toward the building, causing it to collapse to the ground. Tyuule used her body to shield Kerrigan during this time, blocking several shots, though the queen was still hit by another shot that came from a ghost on the side. But from out of the rubble, the elite Dominion ghosts emerged. Though two of them had died in the collapse, the other eight had managed to get down in time.

The ghosts ran forward, now intent on finishing the jobs as they drew their knives, top quality neosteel that was capable of cutting through most objects. As the ghosts closed in around Kerrigan, she smiled despite the lingering pain from the sniper rounds. "You know, they call me the Queen of Blades for a reason. Wanna play?" Kerrigan's sharp wings unfurled behind her as she lunged toward one of the ghosts.

The ghost quickly backed up as the wings came down just inches in front of him. His comrades approached from the sides, stabbing toward Kerrigan, who twisted away agilely, avoiding each of the strikes as she grabbed one of the ghosts and yanked him toward her. The captured ghost barely blocked one of Kerrigan's claws with his knife, and he tried to escape from her grip.

As another ghost came from the side, Kerrigan let go of the one she was hanging onto, before kicking him into the distance. Then, she slashed her wings downward toward the approaching ghost. The ghost parried the wings with his knives as he twisted his body forward to get in closer, only for him to be faced with one of Kerrigan's claws. He ducked to the ground, ending up with several cuts through his shoulder as the claw grazed him.

Kerrigan bent down as she swung with her other claw, but a sharp piercing pain in her chest, a remnant of the damage caused by the earlier sniper round, caused her to pause for a second. The ghost knocked the claw aside during the momentary hesitation, before ramming his other knife into Kerrigan's stomach, through one of the holes left by the sniper rifle. Kerrigan grimaced in pain, before bringing her wings in front of her, forcing the ghost to quickly roll away.

The other ghosts took a step back as they circled around looking for openings. It was quite difficult to deal with an opponent who had two wings as well as two arms, especially since the wings had long reach.

Then, the ghost who had been knocked away earlier returned, but instead of going for Kerrigan, he instead tackled Lelei, sending the girl tumbling into the ground. As the ghost began stabbing repeatedly into Lelei's personal shield, Lelei quickly turned her focus toward defending herself, as she pushed the ghost away with a burst of energy.

But as she did so, the two ghosts still in the buildings used this chance to shoot while Lelei was no longer focused on creating the shield above the group to protect from the snipers. The shots slammed into Lelei, breaking through her defenses and blasting a hole into her body. A ghost pounced on Lelei, taking the opportunity to attack Lelei who was caught off guard by the sudden attack. The knife sliced into Lelei's body as the ghost began to carve deep gashes through her chest as she rolled around trying to push the attacker off.

Meanwhile, the snipers shot at Kerrigan as the four ghosts around her closed in. One shot had missed, but the other hit Kerrigan on the left side of her back, striking the point that her wing connected to her back. As the wing fell to the ground, the ghost coming in from that side was able to get close, forcing his knife into Kerrigan's left armpit.

Kerrigan's arm stopped suddenly as the knife buried itself in the shoulder joint. The other ghost coming in from the left stepped in and tackled her to the ground. Then, he placed his knife in the grooves of Kerrigan's carapace and forced the tip into her chest. The other ghosts piled on, beginning to stab into her exposed body as Kerrigan brought her arms upward to protect her face.

Kerrigan could feel the knives digging into her flesh as the ghosts used their training to make precise strikes to cut her apart. Moreover, the snipers even blasted out her knees to further immobilize her. Things were getting bad she realized, as she began to cough up blood. Even though her powers could let her reform her body, such a disruption would allow the hybrids to take advantage of the moment of weakness to break through in the mental battle. Even now, she could feel her will beginning to slip. Perhaps, it hadn't been a good idea to go into an unpredictable situation when she didn't have the full range of her powers at her disposal, she thought to herself. But it was too late for regrets now.

Suddenly, one of the ghosts on top of Kerrigan was knocked off, before having his body ripped open by Tyuule. Tyuule stood, her body covered in cuts from when she battled with the ghosts, in addition to two holes where she was struck by sniper rounds when she rushed to Kerrigan's aid. The ghosts that Tyuule was fighting were killed after she got in a swift strike on one, killing him before she turned on the other two who were no longer able to hold on.

The snipers shot again, but this time their shots pinged off of a translucent shield. Next to Lelei was the frozen form of a ghost, whom Lelei had immobilized with a spell. As Tyuule went back to fight the remaining ghosts, Lelei started shooting the buildings where the other two ghosts were hiding, killing one and forcing the other back behind cover.

As Tyuule attacked, the ghosts attacking Kerrigan turned around to face their new opponent. Initially, the three of them were able to momentarily drive back the Bunny Warrior, but then Kerrigan's arm reached out, slicing off the leg of one of the ghosts. Then, Tyuule was able to run forward and and beat back the other two. Lelei had finished off the last sniper by collapsing the building, and she quickly ran to Kerrigan's side when the last enemy fell.

Lelei kneeled next to Kerrigan's body, and employed a healing spell by using her psionic energy to speed up the regeneration of the wounds. While this was something Kerrigan could have normally done herself, right now she wasn't in a state to do so. Around them, the zerg forces nearby and come over to secure the area. Numerous overseers were in place to detect any more ghosts.

Around the city, a detailed scan was made by overseers, which uncovered several other kill teams that had been positioned around the city. Once the ghosts were exposed, the buildings they were hiding in were quickly swarmed by the zerg. With the safety of the area ensured, Kerrigan began heading toward the palace once more, this time escorted by a large army of zerg.

The Dominion forces defending the palace had gotten a brief reprieve with the zerg's attention diverted elsewhere, but now the Swarm was back in full force as Kerrigan arrived at the outskirts of the palace. The massive onrush of zerg drove back the Dominion forces, and the bunker line in front of the palace was destroyed and the zerg began rushing in, swarming the remaining terran forces holed up in the plaza. As the Dominion forces began crumbling, Kerrigan walked forward, gazing at the hybrids just a short distance away. It was time to end this.

But before the zerg could reach the hybrids, a massive machine emerged from inside the palace. Its massive steps brought it into the battle within moments as it opened fire with its cannons. The massive monstrosity, the Odin, appeared to be a thor, except vastly oversized and packing much more powerful weapons. The initial barrage from the cannons wiped out the zerg entering the plaza, with only Kerrigan and her companions surviving because of Lelei's shield.

As the Odin turned to face the now isolated group, both Kerrigan and Tyuule sprung into action, slamming into the Odin from the front, sending it staggering back several steps. As Kerrigan jumped forward, the arm of the Odin swung forward, knocking her back while the Odin brought its other arm forward and opened fire. The Odin unleashed a barrage from one of its arm cannons, blasting Kerrigan into the ground and cracking her carapace into pieces. But Tyuule attacked while the Odin was distracted, slicing off the arm shooting Kerrigan.

As the Odin kicked Tyuule to the side, the pilot was suddenly blinded by an intense flash of light generated by Lelei. Moments later, Kerrigan smashed through the cockpit window, landing next to the pilot. The pilot looked up and the Queen of Blades, an imposing and intimidating figure. Though the pilot saw the deep wounds that were his handiwork, those were already closing up, and the queen looked pissed. Before the pilot could even get out of his seat, he was impaled through the chest by Kerrigan's wings.

Kerrigan jumped back to the ground as the Odin slumped downwards, inactive. Now, the only opposition left were the hybrids. As the zerg army closed in, the hybrids stopped their use of the artifact, and opted for a direct attack, using their powers to clear away the approaching zerg.

Kerrigan sighed with relief, the pressure on her mind fading. While the attacking zerg fell by the thousands as they rushed toward the hybrids, Kerrigan stood with a smile, radiating power as she gathered her psionic energy. Now that she no longer needed to devote her concentration repelling the attack from the hybrids, it was time for her to go on the attack.

A massive concentration of psionic energy built up in a ball around Kerrigan for several seconds, followed by her releasing it into a nearby hybrid. The explosion tore through the hybrid's shields and killed it instantly. The other hybrids began shooting at Kerrigan with their psionic attacks, but failed to break her shield. Then, she shot forward, seeming to be a purple blur as she slammed into a hybrid and killed it.

Tyuule and Lelei were focused on one of the other hybrids, bringing it down with Tyuule occupying the hybrid's attention while Lelei struck at it from afar. Kerrigan gathered up her energy again, before blowing through another hybrid. The remaining terran forces were mopped up by the zerg, which now turned their attention toward the last hybrids.

With the battle over, and all of the hybrids destroyed, all that was left was the soldiers inside the palace, and Mengsk. Kerrigan turned to Lelei. "I want to you take the artifact and study it. Perhaps its secrets could be helpful. I shall be meeting with the emperor now."

"I think that we should go with you", Lelei said. "What if he has another trap in store?"

"Mengsk has already used all his cards. Besides, there isn't much that could threaten me now", Kerrigan said.

Before Lelei could reply, Tyuule butted in. "Lelei, I think we should let her go in alone. This is her revenge; it is a personal thing. It wouldn't be right for us to intrude. I am sure she will be fine."

Lelei sighed. "I just want to make sure you are safe."

"I suppose I will check what is in there", Kerrigan said. She extended her power into the massive building, sensing the objects and peoples within. After a few minutes, she had finished her scan of the interior. "There are only the palace guards left. And some bombs, but I can deal with them. Arcturus is fleeing to a ship. I looked inside his mind for a bit, he doesn't have any plans left."

"Alright then", Lelei said. "I hope you enjoy it."

Kerrigan nodded, then turned toward the palace. The zerg had the place surrounded, and Kerrigan also gave orders for the air forces to surround the palace's secret ship entrance where Mengsk was planning on escaping from. Then, she turned her focus toward the massive palace doors and pulled with her powers.

The reinforced steel doors burst open like tissue paper, and Kerrigan walked in. A storm of bullets greeted her as the defenders shot everything they got toward the entrance. However, none of these shots reached their target as the bullets stopped midair. As Kerrigan stepped in, a massive psionic storm formed, ripping through the area and tearing apart everything inside.

Kerrigan walked briskly through the halls of the palace, heading straight to where Mengsk was going. The guards in the hallways shot at her, but she hardly paid them any mind, killing them casually as she focused on her main target. As she approached the launch bay, there were a few ghosts that shot at her, but their bullets stopped midair despite the ghosts trying to propel the bullets forward with their own power; they were simply outclassed. Kerrigan walked up to the ghosts, slicing them open with her wings as she went past.

As she entered the launching area, Kerrigan saw three shuttles lifting off. Of course, she could tell instantly which of them held Mengsk and which of them were baits, simply by extending her powers inside to sense the individuals within. Two shuttles were crushed, utterly destroyed while the third stalled before being dragged toward the ground.

Kerrigan stepped inside the shuttle, disabling the bomb inside with her powers. She killed the guards accompanying Mengsk, before approaching the man himself.

"I have waited a long time for this day", Kerrigan said. "After all you have done, you will meet your end, with your empire crumbling around you."

"Do what you will monster", Mengsk spat. "Humanity will never fall to the likes of you."

"Who cares about humanity? I am here for you", Kerrigan said as she walked next to Mengsk. She was right next to him and she leaned close to say her next words.

"You have lost utterly, Arcturus", Kerrigan said. "I am unstoppable now. Your toy soldiers, tanks, and little tricks have all failed. Kerrigan smirked as she began laughing.

Suddenly, Mengsk whipped his pistol out and shot at Kerrigan, hoping to catch her by surprise while she was monologuing. He shot directly at Kerrigan's eye and the bullet left the barrel of the gun, crossing the short distance between them in an instant. The bullet stopped cold, bouncing off of Kerrigan's eyeball. Mengsk shot several more times, each time the shot being ineffective.

Kerrigan chuckled in amusement. She had intentionally allowed Mengsk to shoot, wanting to give him a sliver of hope before crushing it utterly. Of course, the bullets hadn't actually bounced off of her eye; her eyeballs weren't that durable. All she had done was telekinetically stopped the bullets just when they impacted the surface. It was a small trick, but am amusing one as she saw the look of shock on Mengsk's face.

"Well, want to shoot at me some more?", Kerrigan said in a teasing voice. "Maybe you will get lucky."

Mengsk tossed away his pistol in disgust. "Just kill me already. Just one more death on your hands. I wonder what Jim Raynor would say if he saw you the way you are now, a monster. Of course, he will never be able to say, because I killed him." Mengsk laughed in defiance of the death facing him.

"I think he will be quite glad to see you dead. I will make sure you suffer", Kerrigan said. "Hmm… what should I do?"

For a few moments, Kerrigan stood in contemplation as she thought through her options. Then, she grinned. "How about I make you suffer trapped within your own mind, enduring all of the pain that I have had to go through."

She grasped Mengsk's head and forced his mind to undergo the most painful tortures, trapping him in unending suffering. Soon, Arcturus Mengsk was reduced to nothing more than a drooling wreck with his mind utterly broken.

Sarah Kerrigan stepped out of the palace, having accomplished what she set out here to accomplish. It was time to move on, she decided. There was much more out there for her to do.


	23. Chapter 23

**Chapter 23**

The Swarm was in orbit over Korhal, with the zerg armies having returned to the Leviathans. The artifact seized from the Dominion was being kept aboard one of the Leviathans as it was now to be the subject of study. It seemed that the ancient device was much more than what it seemed.

Now, the Swarm was ready to move to whatever their next target is. Though Mengsk was dead, the fight was not over yet. After Kerrigan killed Mengsk, she went to his office to access his files. In particular, she was looking for the information regarding the hybrid program. The development of the hybrids was carried out by the Mobius Foundation, which had numerous labs around the sector. While there were many labs producing hybrids, the largest of them was Skygeirr platform, which is also where Dr. Narud, the head of the research program, was located. Deciding to get some answers from the source, Kerrigan ordered her Swarm to move on Skygeirr.

When the zerg fleet arrived, the station went into full alert. There was quite a sizable garrison guarding the station due to its critical importance. The Dominion garrison was mobilized, the soldiers ready to defend the station.

"So this is the hybrid production lab", Kerrigan said. "Judging by how many defenders there are, this is definitely an important facility."

"What do you hope to find here?", Lelei asked.

"The Dominion's development of these hybrids seems fishy", Kerrigan said. "Such creatures should be far beyond their capacity to create. Something else must be at work here. That is why I intend to figure it out, starting by interrogating Dr. Narud."

Kerrigan ordered the attack, first sending in the air forces to attack the station. The magilisks created shields to protect the zerg air units that descended onto the platform. The cannons defending the station fired at the approaching zerg, but their attacks were not able to do much damage. The zerg landed on the platform, but there were still many terran forces present.

The large garrison had many marines, who gathered to attack the zerg forces. However, they were beset upon by dracolisks coming from the skies, whose fiery breath burned swaths through the lines of marines. The return fire from the marines as they shot toward the dracolisks failed to do significant damage, having been blocked by the armor. Meanwhile, the magilisks had taken up positions around the platform, using their magic to bombard the terran forces. No spot was spared from their fury, and the terran defenses were left in disarray.

As the zerg armies landed on the platform, they began cleaning up the remainder of the defenders. Finally, they secured the lift into the laboratories, paving the way to enter the depths of the station.

Kerrigan entered the lab along with Lelei and Tyuule. "So, this is Narud's hybrid lab. It's time to see what he has been working on."

The zerg quickly began spreading out, killing the terran soldiers in their path. A few scientists were captured to be interrogated by Kerrigan. It seemed that they didn't know much though, they were just following orders from Narud. The computers containing the research data were also analyzed to try to find additional information.

So far, the terran forces guarding the labs didn't prove to be much of a hindrance. Suddenly, a large capsule opened, containing a massive hybrid. It was the latest creation of Narud, a new hybrid stronger than the others before it. It towered above even ultralisks, and possessed massive claws. The roar of the hybrid was heard throughout the lab, and it began charging toward the zerg.

Some of the nearby terran soldiers were caught up in the hybrid's charge, who seemed to not discriminate between friend and foe. It trampled several bunkers, and though the marines tried to fight back, their attacks were practically ineffective.

Next, the hybrid encountered a zerg army, and it began tearing through it rapidly. Zerglings were being crushed by the hundreds and while the roaches and hydralisks managed to do some minor damage, the hybrid still proved to be too much for them. Even the ultralisks met their match against such an opponent.

Seeing this, Kerrigan went to confront the hybrid directly, first hitting it with a powerful blast of energy that took off part of its face. The hybrid turned, ignoring the other zerg to rush toward Kerrigan. The two clashed, and though the hybrid was larger, it was the one knocked back in the clash when Kerrigan slammed into it.

Kerrigan cut off one of the arms of the hybrid with her wings. The hybrid screeched in fury, bringing down its claw toward Kerrigan. She dodged it, before slicing off that appendage as well. Then, Kerrigan stuck toward the hybrid directly, burying her wings inside its chest. The hybrid gave out one final scream, before being torn apart.

After the hybrid was destroyed, it didn't take long for the zerg to overrun everything on the level. However, there was no sign of Narud anywhere. While the lab's records indicated that all of the hybrid were being stored on this level, there were indications that there was another area underneath, but it was unknown what was down there. So, Kerrigan ordered her zerg further into the station to hunt down Narud.

When they arrived in the lower levels, they were immediately attacked by protoss, Tal'darim. It was quite strange, finding protoss in a terran facility. They were defending this place, a xel'naga temple that the research station was built over, and it seems that Narud was here. Kerrigan could sense him nearby, but he seemed unlike any human.

The zerg forces moved forward, securing a foothold in the area where a hive cluster was made. The area opened up into a massive cavern in which Xel'naga constructs could be seen.

"Why would Narud build his lab on top of a Xel'naga temple?", Kerrigan wondered.

Suddenly, Narud appeared on the other side of the cavern. "You know nothing of the Xel'naga", he shouted. Then, he transformed, turning into an otherworldly being.

"What are you Narud?", Kerrigan said.

"I am something far greater than you pathetic creatures", Narud said. "I am the servant of the god who will remake this galaxy. You interlopers will die here."

Narud shot out a massive beam of glowing green energy toward Kerrigan. She matched it with her own energy, halting Narud's attack. Narud was surprisingly powerful, though it still wasn't enough as Kerrigan began driving him back.

"Narud is impressively strong to be able to survive against me", Kerrigan said. "Still, he won't be winning this."

"My queen, I have sensed that Narud is using several temples to amplify his power", Lelei said. "If I may be so bold, I would like to request to study them. We could learn a lot from seeing how they work."

"You can do that after I finish killing him", Kerrigan said.

"Well… it would be helpful if I could study them while Narud is using them. Studying them while they are active would be helpful. So I was hoping that the battle could go on a little longer. Maybe you could not kill him so quickly?", Lelei asked nervously.

"You know that I am not exactly having fun up here right?", Kerrigan said with annoyance.

"It is alright if you don't want to do it, but we could learn a lot", Lelei said.

Kerrigan sighed. "Fine, just get it done quickly."

While Kerrigan pretended to falter in the fight", Lelei took Tyuule and a group of zerg to the nearest temple to investigate it.

The temples were guarded by the Tal'darim, fanatical warriors who would unhesitantly give their life in service of their master. There were multiple photon cannons surrounding the temple and a sizable protoss force, containing units such as colossi and immortals.

Several ultralisks moved in, cleaving through the zealots in front and battering down the photon cannons. The hydralisks began shooting at the stalkers, pushing them back. The colossi moved in, using their thermal lances to burn through a large group of hydralisks, allowing the stalkers to retake the initiative. Then, Lelei began attacking the colossi, blowing apart the machines with direct bolts of psionic energy.

The immortals had stepped in and engaged the ultralisks, blasting apart the large creatures with their antimatter cannons. While the zerg offensive was temporarily blunted, a rush of zerglings came in to force the protoss onto the defensive. With the colossi destroyed, the zerg were able to swarm in with greater numbers.

A protoss archon attacked, frying the front lines of zerglings. Then, Tyuule jumped in, slamming back the archon. The two were locked in a brawl, but the archon's shield was battered away by Tyuule's strikes, allowing her to destroy the core of the archon. The archon exploded, knocking away the zerg nearby, though Tyuule only took minor injuries from the attack. Next, she turned to the immortals, wrecking several of them as she tore through the protoss ranks.

Soon, the protoss forces guarding the temple were wiped out and the zerg were able to secure the area. Lelei approached the temple and began to analyze the energy flows happening within. Once Lelei began to tap into the temple, Narud sensed the intrusion, and ordered the Tal'darim to reclaim the temple.

The zealots charged up the ramp, immediately engaging the zerglings which jumped toward them. The roaches moved up, attacking the zealots with their acid. The first protoss assault was driven back, but soon they returned, this time with several hybrids with them. The hybrids charged through the zerg lines, trampling over the zerglings and roaches. They were stopped by the ultralisks, but the protoss immortals moved in behind them, using their cannons to take down the ultralisks.

Tyuule leapt toward a nearby hybrid, wrestling it to the ground. After several strikes, the hybrid was dismembered, and she moved onto the next one. As the hybrids began to fall, the immortals began to focus their attacks on Tyuule, but few of their attacks landed as her rapid movements made her difficult to hit. Even the few hits that the immortals did land didn't manage to put her down, and she was already regenerating from those wounds.

As Tyuule occupied the hybrids, the rest of the zerg force pushed forward, sweeping down into the protoss army and enveloping it. The ultralisks charged through, targeting the large colossi. The blades of the ultralisks cleaved through the thin legs of the colossi, causing the machines to tumble to the ground. Once the last of the hybrids fell, Tyuule immediately went to join the rest of the battle, ripping through the remaining protoss.

After the protoss assault was driven back, the zerg continued to reinforce their position. However, the protoss had returned, this time attacking with an even larger army.

"How much longer are you going to take?", Tyuule shouted.

"There are a few more things I would like to see", Lelei said. "I need a little bit more time."

Tyuule turned her attention back toward the approaching protoss army that needed to be defeated. The infestors shot their fungal growth toward the protoss, causing most of their army to become stuck as the fungal growth inhibited their movement. However, the hybrids continued to charge forward toward the zerg unimpeded.

The ultralisks and roaches surrounded the hybrids to bring them down. Many ultralisks fell under the attacks of the hybrids, but several of the hybrids died as well. The protoss had freed themselves from the fungal growth and began to rush forward as they endured the waves of hydralisk spines.

Tyuule jumped into the protoss army to occupy them while the rest of the zerg finished taking down the hybrids. The zealots all rushed in to take her down, but she moved quickly, taking down several zealots at a time while avoiding the others. The stalkers continued to fill the air with their shots, but none of them were too damaging to Tyuule as she tore through the protoss ranks. Several archons approached, blasting Tyuule off her feet with psionic energy, but she quickly bounced back, striking at the archons.

The archons focused their attacks on Tyuule, but her body was strong, enough to allow her to survive those hits and hit back, killing the archons one by one. However, the protoss were beginning to swamp her, with the immortals' cannons managing to do some damage, while a lucky zealot even managed to get slice her from behind. But the rest of the zerg army were now rushing forward, having killed the hybrids in their path.

Countless zerglings quickly swamped the protoss army, tearing into them while the ultralisk charge sent the protoss formations into disarray. The stalkers began to fall under the unending hail of attacks from the hydralisks, while the large war machines were surrounded and destroyed.

They returned to the temple, where Lelei was finishing up her observations. Finally, she had felt that she had seen what she needed to, and she had a good grasp of the temple's system. Now, it was easy for her to shut down the temple.

As Narud began to lose his support, he found his attack being driven back as Kerrigan began to push back with greater intensity. As the energy from Kerrigan's attack approached, Narud let go and jumped away. The backlash of the attack hit Narud, injuring him, but he quickly escaped into the temple behind him.

As the zerg began to wipe out the remainder of the protoss in the area, Kerrigan approached the temple Narud was hiding in.

"Narud has run away with his tail between his legs. It is time for me to kill him", Kerrigan said.

As Kerrigan opened the door to the temple that Narud had escaped into, Lelei and Tyuule came over.

"We'll come along too", Tyuule said.

"What, you don't think I can handle him by myself?", Kerrigan said.

"No, of course you can", Lelei said. "We just want to show our support."

The three of them walked into the dark cavern, with Narud nowhere to be seen.

"Face me Narud, it's over", Kerrigan said.

A voice echoed out from the darkness. "It is only beginning. Amon whispered of this from the stars. He told you of his return… He told you of ruin, extinction, the end of all things."

Kerrigan snarled. "Your god is dead. And he's never coming back."

"Yeah, we're not scared of some lousy god", Tyuule shouted. "He is so pathetic he got himself killed. He can't do anything now."

"Is that what you think." A voice came from behind.

Kerrigan swifty turned around and slashed her wings toward the voice, only to freeze at the last second as she recognized the form in front of her. Lelei and Tyuule were somewhat confused, both wondering why Narud changed his appearance to this random looking dude and why their queen had stopped.

"No…", Kerrigan muttered.

"Sarah…" As the creature wearing Jim Raynor's face spoke, Kerrigan stepped back in shock. Suddenly, Jim's eyes turned red, a pulse of power flowing out of him.

A large pillar hanging from the ceiling fell toward the ground. However, Lelei quickly reacted, erecting a shield that was able to arrest the pillar's fall.

Kerrigan quickly snapped out of her daze. "No.. you're not him." She knocked Narud back with a blast of psionic energy, before leaping toward him. Naurd struck back, sending a blast of energy toward Kerrigan, who knocked it away.

Kerrigan slammed into Narud, knocking him into the ground. She began slamming her fist into the creature wearing Jim's face. "You are not Jim. You are nothing!"

Suddenly, the figure beneath Kerrigan changed into a new face, a face with red hair. "I'm everything you lost."

While Kerrigan was given pause, Narud took the opportunity to strike, forcing Kerrigan into the air with a psionic push, before igniting a red psi blade.

But before he could strike, Narud was knocked backwards when Tyuule rushed into him. Tyuule used her claws to slash into Narud's body. Narud gasped, before forcing Tyuule off of him with blast of psionic energy. As Narud stood, he was suddenly struck by bolts of lightning, knocking him to the ground. Then, Lelei conjured a large spike of ice which emerged from the floor and impaled Narud.

Narud said his last words, a chilling voice coming from him. "You've already lost… Amon lives. You will see him soon." After giving a smile, he died.

* * *

Once they returned to the Leviathan, Lelei and Tyuule watched their queen sit silently in contemplation.

Finally, Lelei broached the topic. "So, who were those two people that Narud transformed into?"

Kerrigan turned toward Lelei, staring silently for a few seconds. Then, she looked downward toward the ground. Finally, she spoke.

"The second one was me, back when I was a human. The first… he was a man named Jim Raynor. We were close. Back when I was a human, he was a comrade in the Sons of Korhal. Then, we fell in love."

"Afterwards, I was taken by the zerg after being betrayed by Arcturus. I was infested, my humanity taken from me. I did monstrous things. Jim, he was disgusted by me. But he refused to give up, and then he did the unthinkable. He tried to save me. He brought the artifact to Char, and purged the infestation from me, turning me back into a human, well, mostly anyways."

"But Jim was killed, murdered by Mengsk. After that, I went on a rampage. I took control of the zerg once more, I reinfested myself on Zerus, becoming zerg again. I threw away what Jim had given me, all for my revenge. And now that I have gotten it, what now?"

"Jim wouldn't have wanted me to do this, but I didn't see any other choice. He would probably be disgusted by what I have done. I feel like I have let him down. I threw away my chance to be human in my search for revenge. Narud's second form made me remember what I had given up, what I no longer have. Jim… he is dead now, gone. And now I am by myself, reflecting on my failures."

"You are not alone", Tyuule said, causing Kerrigan to look up. "You still have us. We aren't afraid of what you are now, and we will continue to be with you. It doesn't matter that you aren't human, why does that matter? What is a label anyways?" Tyuule paused. "I wasn't ever a human actually", Tyuule said with a laugh.

"There is nothing wrong with being a zerg", Lelei said. "We think, we live, just like any other What does an appearance change? Even though a human might find your form monstrous, I do not. Rather, I think you look rather majestic. You haven't given anything up, you have merely decided to make a change. Even now, you still have a life to live. Being zerg hasn't changed that. Even if Mengsk has destroyed your chance to live a peaceful life with Jim, you still find your own path. You can do whatever you want. A life with the zerg isn't prison, but rather it is true freedom. You are limited by nothing, not even old age, a rather welcome perk for us I must say."

"You two… you aren't angry at me?", Kerrigan asked. "For imposing this life onto you?"

Tyuule laughed. "Why would I be angry. You helped me out, freed me and gave me a new life. This is everything I could have hoped for."

"I have to admit, I did agree to infestation partly so that I could live", Lelei said. "But I have seen so many things. This has given me so many new opportunities, allowed me to experience so much more. I have absolutely no regrets."

"So, you two are both happy with the way things are now?", Kerrigan asked.

"My queen, would you grant us freedom? If I asked to leave, to set out by myself, would you allow me to?", Lelei asked.

"Yes, yes I would. You can leave", Kerrigan said with a sigh. "I will wish you the best of luck in whatever you choose to do next."

Lelei stood up. "Well, my choice is to stay with you. I will follow you out of my own choice. I am free, and I use my freedom to choose to be at your side."

"You will always have people to support you", Tyuule said. "I will be with you too. Both of us will be here for you, no matter where you go."

"Thank you…", Kerrigan said softly. "It means a lot to me."

Lelei and Tyuule leaned in and hugged Kerrigan, wrapping their arms around her in a firm grip. Kerrigan let out a breath, and relaxed herself into the embrace of her two companions. They stayed like that for several minutes.

Finally, Lelei spoke. "Are you feeling better now, my queen?"

"Please, call me Sarah", she replied.


	24. Chapter 24

**Chapter 24**

The events of Skygeirr station had created more questions than answers. If Amon was truly able to revive himself, then a threat would emerge that would be far more dangerous than any before. It seemed that Amon's plots extended far and entangled much of the sector. There were many labs used by the Mobius Foundation, and there were likely to be quite a few not listed on the records. Trying to track them all down would be no easy task.

Amon had prepared his plans well, his servant having built his master an army using the resources of the Terran Dominion. When Amon returned, and his army awakened, the true war would begin. Mengsk, who had sought to use the hybrids to preserve his own power, had instead laid the groundwork for a far greater disaster by placing hybrids on Dominion worlds to use against the zerg.

Currently, the zerg were striking at locations all around the sector, attacking laboratories associated with the hybrid program. Many raids were carried out, and countless hybrid production facilities were destroyed. Yet, the files captured during the raids revealed yet more locations, and it was clear that there were still many yet to be uncovered and many hybrid unaccounted for.

Still, the Swarm's campaign was making a sizable dent in the hybrid force, destroying both production as well as what hybrids were found in those locations. Each broodmother was given their own tasks as conflict simmered across the sector.

At the present, Lelei and Tyuule were attacking one of the labs that had been found. At first, the attack began much like the others. The terran soldiers guarding the facility were attacked by overwhelming numbers to break through their defenses. Then, the zerg entered, flooding the interior of the lab and engaging the remaining terran forces.

Lelei went to one of the intact computers and began pulling up the files. There were reports of supply deliveries, personnel transfers, and locations of where the produced hybrids were sent to. There were a few anomalous entries, prompting some deeper investigation. A strange delivery of materials from another lab, one that was not recorded on official records. It would be a good location to check.

Suddenly, a scientist ran up holding a bar of metal, his eyes lit up red with an unnatural light. "All will worship, or be forever silent!"

While the scientist struck toward Lelei, but she easily dodged the attack before killing the crazed scientist. But after killing the attacker, Lelei only felt confusion. It made no sense for untrained scientists without proper weapons to attack, normally they would be cowering in a corner. This one seemed to be driven by an unnatural rage.

As Lelei stepped out of the room, she saw the zerg engaged with the soldiers guarding the Mobius laboratory. The soldiers fought ferociously, unwavering in the face of the zerg assault as they threw themselves in without regards for their own lives. Even when the zerg slaughtered a group, they fought to the last without an inkling of fear.

As the terran soldiers rushed forward with such vigor, the zerg were forced to fall back a bit under the assault. But as the zerg reinforcements arrived, they were able to beat back the terran offensive. Even the greatest amount of dedication couldn't overcome the significant difference in power between the two sides.

Yet, their near suicidal attacks did quite a lot of damage. An old vulture bike ran right into a group of zerg. A shout from the man riding the vulture could be heard, moments before it exploded. "By fire and blood, we shall be reborn."

Suddenly, a hybrid dashed forward into the zerg ranks, beginning to tear apart the zerg as the terran soldiers followed behind in lockstep. Lelei could sense the will of the hybrid permeating through the area, invigorating the terran soldiers. The hybrid began bursting through the zerg ranks with the support of its slavishly devoted soldiers.

Lelei stepped forward, saturating the area behind the hybrid with a massive storm of energy, ripping through the terran soldiers in the corridor. Then, she had the zerg move in, surrounding the hybrid as they moved in to attack. The hybrid flailed its many limbs, crushing a multitude of zerg that approached. Then, an attack coming from Lelei blew open its chest, causing the hybrid to collapse and subsequently be ripped apart by the oncoming zerg.

The zerg attack force moved deeper into the laboratory, discovering several more hybrids. The other terrans they encountered were also consumed by the same frenzy. The fight was harder than previous ones, but ultimately the hybrids fell.

After Tyuule returned from clearing out her section, Lelei went to talk with her.

"Did you encounter something strange during your attack?", Lelei asked.

"Yeah, those guys were really crazy. They kept screaming about Amon and they were almost suicidal", Tyuule said. "Do you know what happened to them?"

"I think that the hybrids are controlling them someone", Lelei said. "I don't know if this is a new thing the hybrids in this lab have developed, or if this represents a larger shift."

* * *

It seemed that the strange occurrences that Lelei and Tyuule encountered were by no means unique. Kerrigan received reports from the other broodmothers reporting similar things as well. It was almost as though an awakening had taken place, rousing the hybrids from their slumber and driving those guarding the facilities mad.

"It looks like Amon is making his next move", Kerrigan said. "We have to keep destroying the laboratories producing Amon's army, but Amon is also taking over the terrans as well."

"Where will we strike then?", Tyuule asked.

"I want you to keep on the offensive", Kerrigan said. "Lelei, focus your efforts on investigating the artifact, I want to know what it can give us. Lastly, I am going to the terran worlds to see what is going on there. Once we get a better idea of what is going on, we can make our next move."

Part of the Swarm arrived over a Dominion planet. There were clear psionic signatures on the planet, that of hybrid. The Leviathan was immediately attacked by a fleet of ships. While this was to be expected, the ferocity of the attack was unusual. The small terran fleet in orbit was quickly swept away, and the Leviathan began landing zerg onto the planet's surface. This called for a closer examination.

The zerg were immediately attacked by the Dominion garrison on the planet, the soldiers seeming to be just as manic as those in the research labs. Kerrigan and her army were even attacked by civilians who ran forward as though they were emulating a zerg rush. When Kerrigan peered inside their mind, she saw endless anger and hatred that completely subsumed the mind of those terrans.

The terran armies on the planet repeatedly made assaults to dislodge the zerg, suffering heavy casualties each time. While the assault was quite intense, the total amount of soldiers on the planet was quite small to begin with. The zerg aboard the Leviathan were sufficient to take overrun the planet, especially with Kerrigan helping.

Still, the main targets, the hybrids, were located within the city. While the zerg slogged through the urban environment, faced with the determined resistance from the terran soldiers, the hybrids began to make their move, attacking the zerg in the cramped and forcing them back in the places where the hybrid attacked. Still, the magilisks were providing support from above the city. With the airspace belonging the the zerg, the maglisks were able to rain down attacks from the air, destroying points of heavy resistance.

The hybrids were slowly being overwhelmed by the zerg, and Kerrigan was able to kill those that still remained, quickly ending the battle. The city was left in ruins after the large battle, the devastation from both the hybrids and the zerg wrecked everything in sight.

But even after the hybrids were all killed, attacks continued to come from the crazed terrans. Even with the hybrids dead, the humans on the planet were already driven to insanity from the psychic domination of the hybrids. However, with the hybrids dead they lacked coordination and were quickly wiped out by the zerg.

As the zerg scrounged through the rubble, they finally got to where the hybrids had first been stored. The containment pods looked like they opened naturally, without any sign of being forced open. While the instructions given to the military garrison had been to only release the hybrids if they were overwhelmed by a zerg assault, it looked as though the containment cells had opened of their own accord. Considering recent events, it looked like the sabotage was planned from the very start, releasing hybrids throughout terran worlds.

Suddenly, a large terran fleet appeared in orbit. While many of the ships began to engage the leviathan, the transport ships began descending onto the surface where they began landing an army.

The appearance of a terran fleet was quite a shock. The attack on Korhal had destroyed the Dominion's fleet, so the fact that such a sizable force of ships had been gathered was surprising.

Kerrigan quickly repositioned her zerg to defend against the attack. The attacking fleet was of an unknown origin, but they were clearly hostile. While Kerrigan was wondering about the origins of the fleet, a transmission was sent out.

"Those who oppose Amon, prepare to die. We are the chosen ones. We are Mobius Corp."

That was the end of it, and the attack began. It was now a little more clear where the fleet had come from. With all of those secret labs set up everywhere producing hybrids, it was reasonable that a secret fleet had been built as well. Now, Amon had taken out another of his cards. A majority of Mobius Corp's forces were concentrated in this attack.

Along with the terran forces under Amon's thrall, numerous hybrids were attacking as well. Meanwhile, fighting occured in the air as well as mutalisks and dracolisks attacked the Mobius ships that were attacking the planet. However, the flying hybrids proved to be a tough opponent, helping to repel the zerg attack.

Once the Mobius army landed on the surface, they began advancing against the main zerg force. The hybrids in the front began clawing through the zerg ranks while other breeds of hybrids attacked from a distance, some of them using psionic storms against the zerg.

However, Kerrigan was fighting on the front lines against the assault from Mobius Corp. The terran soldiers were quickly ripped apart when she blanketed the area in a massive psionic attack. While the hybrids fared a bit better, the zerg began to surround each of them to take them down with numbers. Meanwhile, Kerrigan blasted away at the hybrids, wiping out scores of them every minute.

Amon's presence lingered in the area, some hybrids seeking to take control of the zerg. They were unsuccessful as their targets were firmly under Kerrigan's grip, preventing the hybrids of wrestling control of them as they would a feral brood. Kerrigan forced back Amon's presence as the Mobius armies were being defeated.

In space, Mobius Corp was still holding strong. Their sizable fleet was pummeling the leviathan, wearing away at the massive creature. The Mobius fleet was numerous and they had the leviathan surrounded as they shot at it from all sides. The zerg fliers were swarming out of the leviathan, beginning to attack the Mobius ships.

With the battle on the ground complete, the zerg fliers that had been engaged in the fight on the surface began returning to space to continue the fight there. The space battle had become a bit more even, with the Mobius fleet being attacking by the zerg fliers while being pummeled by the leviathan's tendrils.

As Kerrigan returned to orbit as well, she began using her own powers to attack the Mobius fleet, ripping through their fighter ships with psionic storms, as well as even crushing several battlecruisers. Mobius Corp were soon able to locate the massive psionic signature in one of the overlords, prompting them to begin focusing their attacks on Kerrigan.

As Kerrigan faced an attack from a portion of the fleet, she shielded the overlord while continuing having it move toward the leviathan, which was also coming to pick it up. With another attack from the zerg fliers occupying the Mobius ships, Kerrigan was able to endure the assault long enough to slip through to return to the leviathan.

Finally, the zerg began to overwhelm what remained of the Mobius fleet, swarming them in greater and greater numbers and the Leviathan continued to spawn more zerg. As the Mobius ships were torn apart by the zerg, the survivors began fleeing, with the ones able to warp out escaping.

* * *

Several days later…

The Swarm had once more returned to Korhal. But this time, they were not here to attack the planet and its people. Rather, it was to stem the flood of Amon's armies. Zerg scouting parties across the sector have been keeping track of the movement of Amon's armies. The core worlds that had hybrids delivered to the planet have fallen under Amon's thrall, providing slaves for his army. Meanwhile, various other colonies came under attack from Mobius Corp.

As Kerrigan arrived over Korhal, she saw a planet embroiled in conflict. The flames of war had enveloped Korhal, with Mobius Corp and hybrids launching a massive assault. Since Kerrigan had killed the hybrids on Korhal in her first attack, Amon had not been able to subvert the planet. However, with much of the planet's defenses in ruins, Mobius Corp was able to easily invade.

Amon's assault had been swift and furious. The Dominion provisional military government had already fallen, the military forces that had been scrounged up were unable to hold back the hybrids for long. Now, there were only pockets of resistance remaining trying to survive the deadly onslaught.

The Mobius fleet in orbit was immediately engaged by the zerg fliers, while the leviathans began sending drop pods to the surface. The Mobius forces, which were scattered across the planet, began regrouping to assault the new army that had landed on the planet. While the remaining terran holdouts were still under siege, they were quite relieved to find the ferocity of the attacks against them decrease as the hybrids began to go elsewhere.

In the ruins of Augustgrad, the zerg fought once more. Wave after wave of Amon's slaves attacked, along with countless hybrids. The zerg were prepared for this fight, having brought along a large quantity of forces to ensure victory. Kerrigan and her zerg beat back the repeated assaults, while in space Mobius Corp was defeated by the leviathans sent to attack. Finally, it was time for the zerg to take the offensive as Kerrigan lead the Swarm to wipe out the last remnants of Amon's forces on the planet.

After the battle was over, the surviving Dominion forces emerged from where they were hiding. They prepared to fight the zerg, wary of any movements. A figure emerged from the front of the terran forces, a ghost.

Then, the ghost walked forward and shouted at Kerrigan. "Well, if it isn't the Queen of Blades. Are you back to finish the job now? Not content with how many of us you killed?"

"Not many would dare speak to me like that", Kerrigan said with amusement as she walked forward. "And who might you be? One of Mengsk's pet ghosts?"

"My name is Nova. And I am the Dominion's top specialist. My job is to eliminate threats, threats like you."

Kerrigan laughed. "So you think that you can kill me? You are beneath my notice."

Nova lunged forward in anger, stabbing her knife toward Kerrigan. When Kerrigan moved to the side, avoiding the attack, Nova quickly sprung to action with a kick to sweep Kerrigan off her feet. Instead, Nova suddenly found herself forced to the ground be an unseen force as she was pinned telekinetically.

Nova struggled to push herself upwards, using all of her physical and psionic strength to strain against Kerrigan's grip. Still, she didn't manage to escape.

"You strength is rather impressive", Kerrigan said. "You probably were a highly valued operative. A well used tool."

"What would you know?", Nova said.

"Oh, I know all about what it is like", Kerrigan said. "After all, I was a ghost once. And I was one of the best."

Nova appeared quite shocked, but Kerrigan continued to speak. "They made me a deadly tool, the instructors. Even after I escaped from their grip, your emperor sold me out, abandoning me to the zerg, making me what I am today. But I serve no one any longer, I choose my own path." Kerrigan looked directly at Nova with a serious gaze. "Now I ask you, what are you going to do. Continue being a tool, throw away your life trying to kill me? Or will you go along your own way, doing something that matters?"

"If you aren't going to fight us, then leave", Nova said. "I have other things to worry about, like those damn hybrids. My squad barely made it through that fight even as I helped them resist the hybrid's psionic domination. If those things come back, I am going to fight them."

"Well, you should know that there are still some fringe colonies out there that are being attacked by Amon", Kerrigan said. "If you really want to do something useful, then that is where you should look."

"I'll get my men together then. Maybe we can save some of the colonies, let them evacuate somewhere else. We aren't going down without a fight." Nova gestured to the soldiers behind her, motioning them to follow her as they went to the nearest starport to find some working ships.

The Dominion soldiers walked past the zerg, which stood passively as the terrans walked by. Suddenly, a shot rang out as one marine suddenly turned toward Kerrigan while walking past and fired his gun.

Everyone turned toward the sound, immediately stopping what they were doing. The bullet hovered in front of Kerrigan's face, motionless. Kerrigan looked unamused. "Are you really going to try that?"

"You monsters killed my whole family", the marine shouted. "I will see you dead!"

However, the marine didn't manage to do anything else as his comrades quickly grabbed him and started dragging him away, not wanting him to continue trying to seek assisted suicide, as the man did not seem to be treasuring the chance given to him to survive.

The soldiers got into the ship, while Nova was the last one on the ground. Before Nova got on, Kerrigan spoke. "Your journey is about to begin. Make the best of it."

"I don't need any sympathy from you", Nova said. "I won't forget how many of us you killed. But if you do intend to leave us alone, then I will accept that we can fight whatever this new threat is together. But make no mistake. We tolerate this because we need to. Don't mistake it for me actually liking this."

As the former Dominion soldiers had left the planet along with the remaining surviving civilians, the zerg left as well, ready to continue the fight against Amon.


	25. Chapter 25

**Chapter 25**

Aboard the Leviathan, Kerrigan received word from Lelei that she had made a breakthrough with regards to the artifact that had been captured. When she entered, Kerrigan found Lelei avidly examining the device.

"It is a work of art", Lelei muttered. "Absolutely fascinating. The ones who created this device were truly amazing at their craft. This artifact reflects the amazing grasp that the xel'naga had on the deeper mysteries of the universe. Energy, essence, and information are all one, and one can be changed into the other. And this device is made to manipulate it, in ways that seem almost unfathomable."

"So, is there anything that we can use right now to help fight against Amon?", Kerrigan asked.

"There is. The device stores a location within called Ulnar, the home of the xel'naga." Lelei activated the artifact, causing it to open up to display coordinates in space as well as the location. Projected was an image of a Alterian Rift, a massive opening in the fabric of the universe.

"That is a rather dangerous part of space, filled with unstable and chaotic energies", Kerrigan said. "But if we could find out more information about Amon, we might be able to learn how to defeat him. And if there still living xel'naga, we can enlist their help to deal with their wayward brethren. Let us go to Ulnar."

* * *

The Leviathan hovered over the swirling mass of energies that comprised the Alterian Rift. While the Leviathan was making its preparations, Lelei was examining the nature of the pathway there were about to take. Far from being merely another dangerous location in space, it was something far greater.

"This is a natural dimensional rift", Lelei said. "It is large and has existed for so long. It is likely that this is a meeting point between realms, and that beyond is where the xel'naga have built their home."

"Well then, it is like those gods hiding in their own little world isn't it, coming out to tinker with what they deem as lesser species", Kerrigan said.

"I suppose it is", Lelei replied.

"Well, we shall see what they are like. Is it safe to go in?", Kerrigan asked.

"It should be", Lelei said. "The rift seems stable enough, and if you shield the Leviathan, there should be no danger from the chaotic energies that fill the passageway."

The Leviathan descended into the rift, passing through the turbulent passage yet remaining safe throughout the journey. They emerged over a massive structure that floated in the emptiness. Soon, the Leviathan descended and began landing zerg onto the surface in search of an entrance.

The entire structure was made up of a strange material, and it did not seem to have any obvious entrance or exit. However, they had a good idea where to look, because it was apparent that Amon's forces were already on Ulnar, and they seemed to be concentrated around a particular region.

Not only was Mobius Corp present, there were also corrupted Protoss, as well as hybrid. It seemed that Amon had found some way to subvert the Protoss as well, a troublesome prospect as this would give Amon access to even more armies. Still, at the moment they could be considered as just another set of enemies, one for the zerg to crush.

As Kerrigan and her zerg descended to the surface and began the attack, they began killing off Amon's forces and secured a landing zone. Nearby, they found a strange structure which Lelei began examining.

"This structure seems to be connected to Ulnar's interior in some way and may be responsible for opening the entrance. However, it doesn't appear that we can open Ulnar with this one. This lock is linked to several others, and all of them need to be activated."

"Hmm, it looks like Amon's forces are concentrated around similar looking structures. They seek to block our path. We will need to fight our way through them."

After establishing a base on the surface, Kerrigan took some of her forces and led them on an attack on a nearby lock. Amon's forces guarded it viciously, fighting hard to deny control of the access point, But the zerg came down on them hard and smashed through their defenses quickly. With control over the lock secured, it was activated, bringing them one step closer toward entered Ulnar.

While the zerg set out to assault the next lock, Amon's forces came to attack the hive cluster. However, the zerg harried them throughout their advance, bombarding them from above with the magilisks's attacks as well as having lurkers placed to ambush them. Then, Tyuule led an army of zerg to strike at the weakened attack force once it approached the hive cluster. The attackers were quickly wiped out and then the zerg put their full focus into capturing the rest of the locks.

The third and fourth locks fell swifty, but the advance was halted momentarily as Amon's forces moved to recapture one of the locks. The zerg intercepted them, and the myriad zerg clashed against a mixed force of Mobius Corp and corrupted Protoss. There were hybrids as well, smashing their way through countless zerg before eventually being brought down by superior numbers.

As Kerrigan entered the battle, slaughtering the approaching enemies, the zerg were able to break through Amon's forces and overrun them. Then, they advanced on the final lock. The remainder of Amon's forces in the area had set up all of their defenses here to keep the lock sealed. However, the zerg attack was overwhelming, and the defenses were broken through.

With all of the celestial locks captured, the zerg were able to activate them. The temple rumbled as an entrance opened up, revealing the insides of Ulnar. Kerrigan led her zerg to begin moving into Ulnar, eager to find the secrets within. However, once they were inside, there were yet more hybrids that awaited them. Amon had sent his forces to this place long before they had arrived. It made sense, given that as one of the xel'naga, Amon would have known of Ulnar and how to get here. So, he must be trying to prevent them from finding whatever secrets Ulnar had.

The fighting within Ulnar was quite brutal. The zerg slogged through the passageways of the temple as wave after wave of hybrid came to fight them. While the zerg were still being worn down, Kerrigan's presence helped to stem the hybrid advance somewhat. However, the battles continued to drag on as more reinforcements arrived for both sides. Amon had directed more of his slaves to come to Ulnar and enter into the battle.

During this time, Lelei was put in charge of examining Ulnar to find any information she could about it. So far, it seemed as though there were just endless hallways and chambers, and it was difficult to find out where the deeper secrets were held. As Lelei began examining Ulnar, she found it to be quite the fascinating and complex structure.

There were complex systems present within the walls, all built in a manner far different than anything made by the Terran, Zerg, or Protoss. It was clear that the xel'naga operated on a completely different paradigm, but fortunately the past experience with the artifact helped in understanding the nature of how Ulnar was built.

Energy, information, flowed through the Ulnar, traveling from one part to another. There was much that could be gleaned from this, but unfortunately they didn't have the time right now to do an in depth analysis. So, Lelei had to focus more on the broad patterns to try to find how the various parts came together in order to locate any special areas.

As the zerg continued to capture territory, more of the structure was soon revealed. It had been several days, and Lelei had spotted something that appeared interesting. It looked like some of the energy flow was heading in the same direction, collecting in one place, probably a central hub or other important area. While she didn't know what it was going to be, it was a better area to investigate.

Lelei followed the path down into the depths of Ulnar, and as she moved forward the sounds of battle became more clear as she approached the front lines. Up ahead, Kerrigan was fighting against several hybrids which were coming through the passageway. Each of them were quickly killed off, while the remainder of the zerg cleaned up the rest of the attackers.

After the latest attack was fended off, Kerrigan turned to Lelei who had just approached.

"Lelei, why have you come down here? Aren't you supposed to be examining Ulnar?"

"It looks like there should be something important further down this path", Lelei said. "If we follow it down we might be able to find what we are looking for."

They began heading forward, taking several turns as they went deeper into Ulnar. As they turned a corner, several hybrids leapt out and attacked. Tyuule tackled the first one out of the air, pinning it to the ground as she began to tear it apart. Meanwhile, Lelei blasted another one back into the wall before barraging it with her attacks. Kerrigan was also dealing with several hybrids, killing them swiftly while more began to come.

A group of protoss also charged forward. Under Amon's influence, they ran toward the zerg as they threw themselves into battle without regard for themselves. The roaches blocked the initial charge and began killing the zealots in the front. Meanwhile, the hydralisks began shooting at the approaching protoss, thinning out the crowd.

A hybrid broke through the line of roaches as it charged in. But as it tried to make its way through the zerg forces, it was blasted apart by Kerrigan. More zerg soon came up to plug the gap and begin pushing back Amon's forces. Finally a swarm of banelings came rolling down, crashing into the protoss lines and melting them apart. The survivors were quickly overrun, and the hybrids had been finished off as well.

Resistance was getting tougher as they progressed further. Amon's forces were greater in number in this area, perhaps an indicator that they were on the right track. But despite the efforts by Amon's forces to thwart their progress, the zerg were slowly but surely able to push through. After another day, they had finally broken through.

Up ahead was an area that appeared to be the entrance to a temple. Around the entrance, Amon's forces were absent and the way ahead appeared clear. After the zerg set some defenses around the area, Kerrigan moved in, taking some of her forces with her.

Upon approaching the entrance, several lights lit up and several stones began moving, eventually forming into large constructs. Then, they attacked.

"It looks like the xel'naga build guardians for their temples", Lelei said. "The guardians are powered by the temple's psionic energy which allows them to maintain their forms. Even from a cursory inspection, they are beautifully made. It would be great if I could examine these some more later. It is a pity that we will have to destroy these ones."

Lelei blasted another chunk out of one of the guardians, while the zerg forces swarmed over the miniature constructs that had been spawned. It wasn't long before the guardians at the entrance were destroyed, allowing them to begin moving in.

The walls of the temple were filled with strange carvings. Some of the pictures seemed to be depicting zerg, while it also seemed like there were depictions of protoss as well. It was a strange scene. While the carvings were somewhat intriguing, they were vague and puzzling. But there were drawings that resembled Kerrigan, which was surprising. Were the xel'naga really able to predict events so far in the future? Or was there other trickery at work here?

More of the temple's guardians activated. In each corridor the constructs attacked Kerrigan's group who was trying to enter. It was quite irritating, but failed to pose any sort of real obstacle to their progression. The guardians were few in number, and Kerrigan and the zerg with her were able to bring them down one at a time, clearing the way ahead.

"Why did those xel'naga put so many of these damn things here?", Tyuule muttered. "Do they want to be found or not?"

"It is strange that the constructs seem to attack everything that enters. They don't seem to be discriminating among those that are supposed to enter and those who are not", Lelei said. "I do not understand why they are made this way."

"It is probably a test", Kerrigan answered. "They want to see whether we are worthy or not."

"This does not appear to be an effective test for measuring anything of value", Lelei said.

"Typical", Tyuule said. "Just a bunch of idiots making things far more difficult than they have any need to be."

"They will probably tell us some driven about the journey being important or something like that", Kerrigan said. "I wouldn't be surprised if they just gave us more cryptic bullshit. In fact, Zeratul was probably taking pointers from them. That would explain why he knew so much. And it would explain the way he talks."

A few more constructs came out of a nearby wall. "Well, back to work', Kerrigan said. "Hopefully there aren't more of these things."

It was only a few more rooms and corridors left, and after clearing out the guardians there, they emerged into an open area, with a shrine on one end. The shrine seemed to be sealed, requiring certain conditions to open. After a few minutes of examination, Lelei came to a conclusion.

"The shrine requires the presence of two races that meet certain conditions", Lelei said. "We only have one right now."

"Hmm, I am guessing that it needs a protoss here too", Kerrigan said.

"Well, if that is the case, I might be able to do something", Lelei said. "I have been working with some of the captured protoss. I think I may be able to emulate the style of psionic energy they use. Of course, I will still have to spoof whatever verification safeguards are on the shrine, and that will take some time."

While Lelei worked on the temple, some of Amon's forces arrived, immediately starting to attack. Kerrigan and Tyuule immediately went to fight off the incoming attackers, while more zerg began coming in to provide support. Only a small portion of Amon's forces had been able to make it into the temple, and it didn't take long before they were defeated.

Finally, Lelei finished her analysis of the shrine and reported back with her findings.

"It contained some information about the xel'naga", Lelei said. "Apparently they have been working to perpetuate some kind of cycle. None of it seems too relevant right now."

"Well, let's move on to the next shrine", Kerrigan said. "Maybe those would be more interesting."

They progressed through a few more sets of guardians, as well as coming into conflict with some of Amon's thralls. They reached the second shrine, and obtained some more information about how the xel'naga conducted their cycle. Still, there was no sign of where the xel'naga actually are.

As they moved ahead, they discovered that the area was already broken through forcefully, the guardians having been destroyed with signs of battle marring the temple. It was clear that Amon sought to reach the end first.

The zerg progressed forward with increased haste. Along the way Amon's forces blocked them at every turn. But overwhelming strength was brought against the opponents, allowing the zerg to smash through the opposition. Finally, they reached the central shrine. Several hybrids were present, trying to destroy the shrine. When Kerrigan and her entourage entered, the hybrids immediately turned to face their opponent.

A series of psionic blasts from Kerrigan blew the head off of the leading hybrid, and Lelei created a barrier separating several of the hybrids from the rest, though it was quickly being broken through. Tyuule had already jumped forward, attacking one of the hybrids. The rest of the zerg began to fight several hybrids, along with the rest of Amon's forces that had arrived.

The hybrids ended up falling one after another, and soon Amon's forces were destroyed, giving the zerg access to the shrine. Lelei approached and began tinkering with the mechanism for a while. Finally, she was able to activate it.

"The xel'naga are supposed to be inside", Lelei said. "Shall we enter now?"

"Let's see what they have to say", Kerrigan said. "They better have something important after making us come all this way."

The door of the shrine slowly rumbled open. Kerrigan walked inside, looking around. It was silent, too silent. Lelei lit a light, illuminating the dark space. Now, it was clear what had happened. There were dead bodies strewn about, the corpses of the xel'naga that were supposed to have resided within. It was clear that Amon had gotten to them already, perhaps even long ago.

A dark laugh echoed from within the chamber. "Kerrigan…"

Amon's voice rang throughout the shrine. "You have lost. None shall save you now. Behold, I shall be reborn. My host body is forged. With it, I shall bring the final end to the cycle. You cannot stop a god."

"Oh really. I find myself thoroughly unimpressed. You will die all the same", Kerrigan said.

"We shall see…"

Suddenly, a powerful disturbance was felt as energies began pouring out of the void and into Ulnar. Amon had opened a gateway into the void, using the void energies to flood Ulnar and cause devastation.

"The void energies will soon be upon us", Lelei said.

"Will we be able to get out in time?", Kerrigan asked.

"Yes, we can escape quickly enough", Lelei said. "But most of the forces we brought here would be lost."

"I'd rather us not take unnecessary losses", Kerrigan said. "Is there any other option?"

"The gateway is powered by several void crystals", Lelei replied. "If we destroy them, the gateway should shut down."

"Let's get to it then. Go forth and destroy them", Kerrigan ordered. The zerg forces on Ulnar immediately sprung into action, launching an attack on the enemies in the area.

Kerrigan took a force of zerg to destroy one of the crystals, while Lelei and Tyuule went to attack two others. The first group of Mobius Corp soldiers were quickly overwhelmed by Kerrigan's assault and the first crystal was quick destroyed.

Meanwhile, Tyuule was leading the assault on another crystal. After breaking through the initial bunker line, she ran into several hybrids. While the zerg began to tear through the remaining opposition in the area, Tyuule took on the hybrids, killing them one at a time while dodging the attacks from the others. Once the final hybrid was killed, the zerg were able to destroy another crystal.

Lelei was having similar success on her end. A focused long range bombardment from Lelei had blown apart much of the entrenched enemies, and as the zerg ran in, they were quickly able to slaughter the remaining opposition. There were still several hybrids remaining, but under the repeated barrage from Lelei's magic, even they fell in the end.

There was just one more crystal remaining, and Kerrigan was already attacking it, having moved in right after destroying the first crystal. The hybrids put up a determined resistance, but they were no match for Kerrigan's power. Once the final crystal was destroyed, the void energies began to recede.

After the threat was destroyed, the zerg began to leave Ulnar. They had gotten everything they could from this place, and although they didn't get quite what they were looking for, they now had a clear idea of where to go next.


	26. Chapter 26

**Chapter 26**

Artanis was on Aiur, fighting against the near endless amounts of Amon's minions that attacked his position. The protoss survivors had been left mostly directionless after the disastrous expedition on Aiur followed by the loss of the only other major protoss world, Shakuras. It was through these dark days that Artanis had to lead his people. While the situation had seemed hopeless, he was able to keep the survivors organized so that they could at least do something.

The protoss had helped take the fight to Amon, but their progress had been limited. That is why Artanis had sought additional allies, eventually recruiting both the Purifiers and the Tal'darim. But even then, Amon's might was vast, and the fallen one still held most of the protoss race in his grip. Artanis could not stand to leave his people as slaves to Amon, but he knew not how to free them.

So, Artanis went to Aiur, the birthplace of the protoss, and the place where the Khala was first formed. If there was anywhere that might hold the secrets toward breaking Amon's control over the Khala, this would be where it is. No matter how slight the chances were for success, Artanis was determined to try; he would give anything for his people's salvation.

However, when the Spear of Adun arrived over Aiur, something far more horrifying was discovered. Amon was growing a massive host body for himself, using the bodies of protoss as material. Since it was clear that Amon's rebirth would spell disaster for the sector, the decision was made to attack.

Artanis was able to buy a bit of time by destroying the psi matrix that allowed the protoss fleets to quickly warp to Aiur. That way, they were able to destroy Amon's host body before the Golden Armada could arrive. But it came at great cost. Now, they were trapped on Aiur as Amon's armies warped in over the planet. The only thing they could do now is fight.

Artanis and his brethren fortified themselves on the surface of Aiur while the Spear of Adun stayed overhead. There was no retreat now, and their prospects were grim. But, the templar were a proud people, and even facing their end they would give their all to make their last stand as glorious as it could be. If they were to die, they would at least go down fighting.

Of course, Alarak wasn't too happy about dying in a last stand. In fact, he had tried to get his fleet to leave right after killing Amon. Unfortunately for him, Amon's fleet had already warped into the system and were blocking his retreat. His ships were the first that were targeted. It seemed that Amon really hated traitors.

It was clear that Amon was deeply enraged. He had been so close to walking the world once more, only to have it taken away. Now, all he could do was take his anger out on those that had attacked him. Amon recalled his forces from all across the sector, having them converge on Aiur. Amon was throwing everything he had at them.

Artanis's forces were well prepared for the battle, but they were besieged by swarms of zerg and protoss that were under Amon's control. While even that would be hard to deal with, they also had to fight against the countless hybrids which attacked them. Initially, support from the Spear of Adun was able to help them beat back the assaults, but eventually the arkship was attacked by the fleet that had appeared in orbit, leaving the ground forces to fight alone.

Little by little, Artanis and those who followed him were losing ground, the encirclement around them tightening. The Spear of Adun was not faring well. The ship was extremely powerful, far outclassing any other ship. However, it was just one, while Amon's forces were numerous. Even the powerful solarite core within the Spear of Adun was unable to power the shields enough to withstand the repeated attacks from the attacking ships. It had taken quite a long time, and the Spear of Adun managed to devastate the opposition, but finally its shields fell and Amon's fleets were attacking the hull of the ship.

While the Spear of Adun was taking damage, Artanis was still desperately trying to hold on. Another hybrid was coming up, charging alongside protoss who were corrupted by Amon. Though it greatly pained him to do so, he had no choice but to kill fellow protoss. After slicing through several zealots, Artanis turned toward the hybrid, stabbing it through the chest with one of his psi blades. The hybrid continued to flair, nearly knocking Artanis to the ground. But he held his place, using his other blade to slice off one of the hybrid's arms. Then, he pulled out his other psi blade and stabbed the hybrid again, this time killing it.

The rest of the warriors around him managed to defeat the remainder of the attackers, and they were able to have a short rest before the next attack wave came. Then, Artanis received a communication from Vorazun, who had been guarding the left flank.

"Hierarch, we are unable to hold our position. The zerg and hybrids are overwhelming us. We will have to retreat to the next defensive line."

Artanis held a grim expression. There wasn't much room left for them to retreat to. They were surrounded, being pressed into an increasingly small space. It was only a matter of time now before they were completely destroyed. Already, Artanis could see another wave of attackers coming. He readied his blades and prepared to fight again.

As the enemies charged in, Artanis sprung into action, beating back the attackers with a flurry of attacks. Around him, his comrades were holding the line valiantly. But he could see several of them die. Many of his comrades had already died during battle, and yet more were losing their lives now. Artanis pushed such heavy feelings to the back of his mind and focused himself on the fight ahead.

Soon, the fight was over. They had survived, but only barely. As their losses piled up, Artanis decided that he too would have to fall back. While leading his forces to withdraw, Artanis once more checked with the Spear of Adun, to see whether the situation had improved.

This time, before Artanis had even reached out, the crew of the Spear of Adun opened a communication channel with Artanis, having news to report.

"Hierarch, multiple Leviathans have arrived. Zerg fliers are being released as we speak. However… they seem to be attacking Amon's forces."

"The zerg? Fighting with us? I would never have expected such a thing", Artanis muttered. "What is the status of the Spear of Adun?"

"The ship has sustained heavy damage to the hull. We cannot hold out for much longer. Fortunately, the new arrivals have drawn away some of Amon's forces. Otherwise, the ship would probably be falling apart as we speak."

"Then continue focusing on Amon's forces and let the zerg pass", Artanis ordered. "If they aren't here to fight us then there is no point in fighting them."

* * *

When the Swarm arrived over Aiur, they found themselves suddenly thrust into a scene of absolute chaos. It was clear that a massive battle was in progress for some time, and they arrived right in the thick of things. Amon's forces immediately turned to fight them, with some breaking off from their attack against the massive protoss ship.

There were both zerg and protoss among Amon's armies, from those corrupted through the khala as well as the zerg broods on Aiur being controlled by the hybrid. It was a strange scene at present. Protoss and zerg fighting against protoss and zerg. With hybrids thrown into the mix.

"Why are there zerg fighting for Amon?", Tyuule asked.

"The Aiur broods were left leaderless after the Overmind died, becoming feral", Kerrigan said. "I don't quite remember why I never tried to reclaim them after the Brood War; much of what happened during the time between the great wars is fuzzy to me. Perhaps my old self wished to leave them there to distract the protoss. But it seems that now Amon has taken control of them through the hybrids. I am trying to wrestle control of them, but it is a slow and difficult process."

"There may be a way to use the artifact to help catalyze the process", Lelei said. "It will take a bit of time for me to figure out, but there should be a way to use the device to amplify your connection with the Swarm and allow you to fight against Amon's influence directly."

"Meanwhile, we have to deal with the battle going on right now. Deploy all of our flying units and start launching drop pods toward the surface", Kerrigan ordered. "Destroy everything in our way."

The Leviathans began disgorging their contents, sending out mutalisks, corruptors, and dracolisks to clash against the incoming tide of attackers. Blood spurted throughout the vacuum of space as zerg died in droves, while the broken shells of protoss ships crashed to the surface as they were wrecked by the zerg attacks. Still, yet more kept coming.

Amon's fleets began targeting the Leviathans, hoping to bring down the massive creatures to cut down on the tide of reinforcements. However, formations of magilisks around the Leviathans served to create a shield to block attacks. It was similar to emulating protoss shields. The shields helped to protect the Leviathans from most of the attacks. Of course, they weren't perfect and sufficient firepower would be enough to bring down the shields. But even after that the attackers still had to contend with the bulk of the Leviathan itself, all the while the massive creature speared through countless smaller ships with its tendrils.

While the Leviathans were still holding out fine, the Spear of Adun was already on its last legs. Its shields had long been depleted, and massive sections of its hull were broken through and Amon's forces were even landing inside the arkship, attacking it from the inside as well. When the power core of the ship finally took several hits from what remained of the Golden Armada, the ship couldn't sustain itself any longer, leading to it crashing downwards. The Spear of Adun smashed into the surface of Aiur, exploding and taking with it some of Amon's thralls which were near the impact zone.

With the Spear of Adun destroyed, the fleets of Amon were able to start concentrating their attention on the Leviathans. While the situation was starting to turn for the worse, Lelei was finally able to finish configuring the artifact for its next task.

With the artifact ready, Kerrigan stepped up and put her hand on it. As she focused her power through the device, it amplified the signal and targeted it toward the zerg hive mind. Kerrigan wrestled against Amon's influence, expelling it from the hive mind and retaking control of the disparate zerg which had been bound by the hybrids.

The zerg immediately stopped, before turning on the rest of Amon's forces. Many hybrids, which had been scattered throughout the swarms of zerg, were suddenly attacked by the zerg around them. Now, the zerg regrouped, ready to fight for their queen.

* * *

On the ground, Artanis was still fighting with what remained of his force. Though the assault had slackened somewhat when Kerrigan's army had started landing on Aiur, it was still a difficult fight for the depleted protoss force. Artanis turned to face the incoming tide of zerg, readying himself for one last burst of activity.

Suddenly, he saw the zerg halt, before turning on the hybrids. To his surprise, the zerg started retreating, leaving the shocked protoss warriors to watch as the zerg went away. This didn't mean that Artanis let his guard down though. After all, the corrupted protoss were still out there. However, as time passed, even those attacks became fewer and lesser in intensity.

Finally, there was only silence.

The protoss warriors took a rest, while still remaining vigilante. Though they hoped that the fighting was over, they prepared for the worst, repairing their defenses and staying alert in case of an attack. Some of them rested, after having fought for so long, there was only so much that they could bear.

Then, Artanis saw a massive swarm of zerg appear. He quickly scrambled to his feet while calling for the others to prepare for battle. It was a far larger force than what they had been fighting against before, and seeing their numbers Artanis did not have very high hopes for them surviving this fight.

However, there was one thing that seemed strange. There were no hybrids among the approaching zerg. But as Artanis looked further as the zerg came closer, he realized that the one leading the zerg was far more frightening than any hybrid. The Queen of Blades.

Finally, Kerrigan and her army of zerg approached the protoss encampment, having destroyed the remainder of Amon's forces in the area. Artanis signaled for his allies to hold their fire and not attack yet. Then, Artanis called out.

"Kerrigan, why have you come here to Aiur?"

"Not to fight you, if that is what you are wondering", Kerrigan replied. "After all, Amon still poses a threat to us all. I won't be fighting you right now."

"How can we trust you", Artanis said. "You are the great betrayer. Even if we do have a common enemy, you may still betray us like you did before."

"Stupid protoss", Kerrigan muttered. "Then shall I leave you all here to your fate then? Amon will kill you all and then I will destroy the rest of the protoss which serve Amon. I suppose this is how your race will end, clinging obstinately to your own idiocy like always. If that is the case, then I have nothing more to discuss with you. Enjoy your last days alive."

"I will not allow you to destroy my race. The protoss can still be saved", Artanis said. "If you plan on wiping out every last one of them, then I cannot allow that to happen!"

"They are trying to kill you Artanis", Kerrigan said. "You will have to kill them as well."

"I will never give up trying to save my people", Artanis said. "There will always be hope. No matter what it takes, I will find a way. So leave. Let the protoss deal with our own."

Kerrigan turned away, ready to depart. But then, she had a thought. She quickly sent off a mental message to Lelei.

"Is there any way for us to use the artifact to expel Amon from the protoss's Khala, similarly to how we used it for the zerg hivemind?"

"I think that it should be possible", Lelei replied. "I have done some examination of the protoss prisoners to figure out how their connection to the Khala works. It seems like such a plan would be viable. In fact, it may even be possible for you to supplant Amon in the Khala directly and control the protoss yourself."

Kerrigan thought about this for a moment. While being able to control the protoss seemed very appealing, after some deeper analysis it was likely to be more trouble than it was worth. Controlling unfamiliar minds in a different system would be difficult, especially since Amon would be fighting for control as well. That plan didn't have a very high chance to succeed. So, she ultimately decided to stick with the original idea.

Kerrigan turned back to face Artanis. "You said that you would do anything in order to free your people from Amon, is that correct?"

"Yes", Artanis said. "Even if I have to give my own life, I will find a way."

"Well, you don't need to search any longer. I have a way", Kerrigan said. "With the aid of a device created by the xel'naga, I can help push Amon out of the Khala long enough for your people to free themselves."

"Is this true?", Artanis exclaimed with shock. "Or are you up to your tricks, trying to deceive us?"

"What use would I have for deceiving you?", Kerrigan said with annoyance. "You are hardly worth it. And you shall see the results for yourself."

Artanis was filled with doubt. He had a choice. Before him was a chance to save the protoss, perhaps the only chance for him. But to do so would require him to put his trust in someone who had betrayed him in the past, and might still be trying to do so.

Ultimately, Artanis realized that he had no choice. This was his only option. "And what would you require from us in exchange?"

"The protoss must end their hostility toward the Swarm. And in particular, renounce any grudges they hold toward me. That is all that I shall ask of you", Kerrigan said.

"What you ask will be difficult to accept", Artanis said. "You have killed countless of us in the past, and our hatred toward you runs deep. To let go of this will not be an easy task."

"And I am doing you a great service, one that I have no need to do for your people", Kerrigan said. "Will your people cling so stubbornly to the past, that they will not allow themselves to move into the future?"

"Fine", Artanis said. "The protoss shall no longer fight you, as long as you refrain from attacking us."

Suddenly, Vorazun spoke up. Though she was still quite injured from the earlier battle, she found the strength in her to say these words. "Artanis! How could you do this? She is a monster. The Nerazim will never rest until the Queen of Blades is dead. And I especially will never accept her. She is responsible for twisting my mother, corrupting her mind and causing her death. I have sworn to kill her, and you will not stop me."

"Vorazun, you must see reason", Artanis pleaded. "We have not the strength to fight right now. This is something that concerns the survival of our people."

"Your people, not mine", Vorazun said. "The Nerazim will have no part in this. I will fight for you no longer."

"Please Vorazun. We cannot afford to divide ourselves at such a dire moment for our species", Artanis said.

"You made your choice. I have made mine", Vorazun said. Then, she jumped to her feet and lunged at Kerrigan while activating her warp blade.

But before Vorazun could reach Kerrigan, she was taken down, by Artanis. The Hierarch was pinning down Vorazun, who struggled against his grip. But she was still too weakened from the earlier battle to put up resistance for very long. Soon, Artanis had his warriors take Vorazun away to be temporarily imprisoned until the situation was resolved.

"You won't get away with this, Artanis", Vorazun shouted. "My people will not stand for this."

"It looks like you can't even control your own people", Kerrigan said.

Artanis looked weary. "I know not what more I could do. At most I could try to order my own people to comply, but as for my allies, there is little I can do to control them should they decide to leave me."

Then, Alarak approached, and Artanis's face fell. "And are you going to turn against me, Alarak?"

"Hardly. I never agreed to serve you in the first place. I want no part in your bickering. I shall be leaving as soon as possible. I care not for your petty feuds." Alarak turned toward Kerrigan. "You are powerful, your minions great in strength. My people shall respect you." Then, Alarak walked off.

"I know that this may not count for much", Artanis said. "But I will instruct my people that they are to avoid hostilities with the zerg, unless attacked first. I will pledge my honor that I will do my best to ensure no protoss under my command will disobey these orders. This is all that I can do. Please, help save my people."

"Very well then, Artanis", Kerrigan said. "I shall grant you this boon. But you owe me."

"Yes, I will do whatever it takes", Artanis said.

"We shall be starting momentarily. The artifact will be brought down here. I suspect that Amon will try to attack us one last time. Have your warriors on guard", Kerrigan said. "This fight will determine the fate of your race."

The zerg and protoss gathered their armies around the area, forming up defenses while the artifact was brought down. Kerrigan was putting her energy into the artifact, accelerating the rate at which it was charging up. Artanis and his warriors went to the front lines to repel any attacks, along with a large portion of the zerg. There still remained a small force of zerg, along with Tyuule and Lelei, around Kerrigan as a final layer of defense.

Amon had noticed the energy buildup occuring, and the remainder of the corrupted protoss attacked, throwing themselves toward the defenses. Thousands of zealots charged forward, backed by their war machines, immortals and colossi. Meanwhile, the Golden Armada formed up and began pushing forward, though they were met with stiff opposition from the zerg.

Though the firepower from the protoss ships was strong, cutting through thousands of zerg in an instant, streams of zerg poured forth both from the Leviathans and from the surface of Aiur, surrounding the protoss ships and wearing away at their shields. The corrupted protoss pushed forward unyieldingly though, and their combined firepower even managed to kill one of the Leviathans. However, many protoss ships were lost as well.

Down on the ground, the remainder of Amon's forces pushed forward as they fought against the defenders. A series of explosions tore through the perimeter defenses, as the corrupted protoss focused their firepower to break through. After clearing out the defenses in the area, they moved in, charging boldly into the encampment. However, the defenders had regrouped, and Artanis had gathered his warriors to form a defensive line blocking the attackers. The protoss fought each other in a vicious melee as both sides focused the entirety of their effort toward defeating the other. Still, Artanis's forces did not break, remaining steadfast in holding the line. Even the numerous hybrids that charged against Artanis's forces failed to break the protoss lines.

Then, the zerg stepped up their attack, sending swarms of zerg against the sides of the attacking force. Amon's forces were embroiled in battle on all sides, and the fight turned against them. The zerg on Aiur had moved in as well, coming in and attacking Amon's armies from the back, fully trapping them. Furthermore, the remainder of the Aiur broods blocked any more reinforcements from coming.

Magilisks had gathered above the battlefield, bombarding the army of corrupted protoss from above. The first to be targeted were the large and powerful war machines. Repeated strikes soon destroyed the strongest components of the protoss army, leaving only the most basic warriors remaining. Still, the remainder of them fought on, focusing on trying to push forward.

Artanis's group bore the brunt of the attack as the attackers focused their efforts on trying to break through. Once the heavy equipment of the attackers was destroyed, the pressure was reduced, but still there were many zealots charging forward. Artanis's forces were taking a beating, and it was only their sheer determination holding the line.

Artanis himself was on the front lines, both of his psi blades in a flurry of action as he fought against the crazed protoss that attacked him. Yet another foe attacked him, and he blocked the strikes, pushing back his attacker momentarily. Artanis looked up, realizing that it was Selendis. But he couldn't afford to hold back, as she was a powerful fighter. He needed to put everything he had into the fight. Though he hoped to not have to kill her, he prepared himself for the worst.

Selendis ran forward for another series of strikes, each driving Artanis back a little as he blocked them rapidly. With a powerful shove, he knocked Selendis backwards and into the ground. However, within moments she had gotten back up, running toward him again.

Suddenly, a burst of energy interrupted the fight. The attacking protoss all fell to the ground as they felt the corrupting influence in their mind torn out. While they laid in a daze, Artanis called out.

"Selendis, templar! Rid yourselves of Amon! Sever your nerve cords!"

Several of the protoss seemed to be in doubt. Though they saw the need to cut themselves off from the Khala, they were still hesitant. The Khala was such an integral part of their culture, to separate themselves from the Khala was a near unthinkable prospect. Indeed, for thousands of years, those who were not part of the Khala were persecuted by the Conclave.

"Without the Khala, what will we become?", Selendis muttered.

Artanis only had one word as his answer. "Free."

Finally, the protoss stood, cutting off their nerve cords. The Khala, which had bound the protoss together for so long, was no more. Amon was thrust back into the void, ending his plans to dominate the sector. With the loss of his minions, and most of the hybrids destroyed, he no longer had the capacity to enact his goals.

Now, it was a time for rebuilding. Protoss society had been utterly shattered. The Khala was no more. And for the Dark Templar, they had lost Shakuras. And the protoss stood divided, with the Nerazim going their own way, and Alarak not caring in the slightest about what Artanis had to say. Now, Artanis had the unenviable task of building up everything anew.

The zerg left Aiur, going to hunt down the remainder of Amon's armies that were still at large. Also, they continued to build up their forces, as the fight wasn't quite over just yet. After all, Amon was not yet dead.


	27. Chapter 27

**Chapter 27**

After Amon's defeat, the sector settled into a semblance of stability. The surviving terrans resettled and formed a new government. The protoss tried their best to rebuild their society after the devastation they suffered, both from the loss of many of their people as well as the Khala. Vorazun lead the Nerazim on a separate path from Artanis, as did Alarak. For the most part, they didn't get up to much, as everyone was battered from the war. Though, Alarak did seem to be looking around for targets of opportunity.

Meanwhile, the zerg were rebuilding their armies as well. They by far experienced the greatest amount of growth, as zerg reproduction greatly outpaced that of the terrans and protoss. Many of the planets left uninhabited after Amon's rampage were still rich in resources, and the zerg moved in and built up their hives on those planets to begin production. The zerg began to increase their numbers once more, after the past war had depleted the Swarm.

This wasn't the only thing the zerg were spending their time on though. In addition to growing their numbers, they were also focused on improvement. Abathur worked to refine existing strains and increase their combat ability. Meanwhile, the zerg had also returned to Ulnar, with Lelei being in charge of investigating the structure.

It was there that anomalous signs were discovered. There was far more to Ulnar than meets the eye. It was a home for the xel'naga, a vast repository of knowledge. But it also served as a focal point connecting different realms. It was there that the boundary of existence grew thin, where the Void drew close toward the material realm.

From the Void emanated whispers, but it was not the whispers of Amon. It was different and it called out to them. The zerg present upon Ulnar began securing the area as they looked for the path into the Void. When one took a broader view, it seemed that the entire structure of Ulnar was able to function as a conduit, linking one realm to the other. The important thing was to figure out how it all linked up, and how to operate the system properly.

The zerg prepared, holding off on an expedition until their forces had built up sufficiently. But finally, the time came to go on the attack. Amon was still alive, staying in the Void as he bided his time until he could return. Now that their forces were ready, it was time to go in, find whatever is sending those messages, and perhaps find something useful against Amon.

The zerg were fully mobilized, with a great multitude of Leviathans assembled around Ulnar, all filled with zerg. While there were still a few Leviathans elsewhere, colonizing new planets and creating more zerg armies, the bulk of the Swarm was here. The broodmothers were prepared to send their broods in as soon as Kerrigan ordered it.

With the Swarm assembled, it was now time to enter the Void. Ulnar trembled, as the ancient systems within the structure activated to form a passageway between worlds. Beyond, lay a chaotic space filled with unbound energies. It was a place of darkness, full of corruption. It was Amon's home turf. Amon would be stronger here than he would in the material world, but it was also the only place where he would be truly vulnerable.

The zerg fleet floated through the void. It was by no means a quiet journey. Chilling whispers echoed from every corner, and vile creatures born of the Void attacked them. These scattered attacks didn't prove to be too much of a hindrance. The fleet of Leviathans was more than enough to deal with the small fry that popped up constantly.

Throughout the vast emptiness, the zerg traveled. They moved toward a specific location, where Kerrigan sensed an entity trying to reach out to them. When the zerg fleet finally approached, they met the first significantly concentrated group of enemies. It appeared that they were approaching where Amon's forces were concentrated. And right in the middle of the mass of enemies was where the one who called out to them was.

"Are we going to attack this place?" Tyuule asked. "It could be a trap. The messages might be an attempt to lure us in."

"I don't believe that it is a trap", Kerrigan replied. "The presence seems genuine. And even if there was nothing there for us, we are still here to destroy Amon's forces. So, it will still be the right choice for us to attack. Also, I sense a familiar presence here - Narud. We shall destroy Amon's servant, permanently."

The zerg fleet approached the large landmass suspended within the Void and began the assault. Drop pods began impacting the surface, disgorging zerg that quickly sprung into action to attack the nearby enemies. The ground was filled with corrupt energies that spewed forth from dark crystals. Amon held a strong grip over this region of the void, and the corrupt energies acted as an extension of Amon's will, harming the zerg that were engulfed by it.

The initial attack wave of zerg moved quickly, overrunning the shades that served as Amon's warriors. The enemies were twisted versions of terrans, zerg, and protoss, but they no longer had any relation to their origin, now they were all simply Amon's minions. The Void, under the influence of Amon's corruption, birthed those creatures to serve as his slaves, as nothing more than an extension of Amon.

The attack was sudden as the zerg smashed through the enemies in their path quickly, before coming upon the void shard that was emanating the corrupted energies in this area. Shadows spawned nearby, but they didn't arise quick enough to hold back the tide of zerg. Soon, the zerg destroyed the shard, cutting off the source of the corruption. As the vile energies dissipated from the area, more zerg began to land to secure the foothold and a hive cluster was set up.

Still, this was but a small portion of the landmass, and the rest of it was just as dark and foreboding. The zerg attack had stirred up activity, and Amon's thralls ceased their aimless wandering and began to form up as Narud began commanding them. However, the main bulk of the zerg armies were already beginning to arrive, determined to defeat Amon's minions.

There were some preparations to be made though. Lelei had begun looking into the void energies shortly after arriving with Kerrigan. While the corrosive effects of corrupt energies weren't enough to totally styme the zerg assaults, it had proven to be a significant hindrance, killing off not inconsiderable portions of the initial assault team. Even though simply trying to purge the corruption from the entire area was impossible without the source destroyed, it was still possible to provide a small area where the void energies were parted away from the zerg force.

Once the magilisks moved in to push back the void energies on the fringes, the zerg army moved. The Swarm moved through the desolate and twisted landscape, advancing on the nearest void shard. As they drew close, Amon's forces attacked, trying their best to overwhelm the zerg assault. The shadows began firing upon the zerg, blowing through countless rows of hydralisks and roaches. Zerglings swarmed in, making only a bit of progress while dying in droves, though the ultralisks fared better.

The mutalisks came forth, quickly engaging Amon's air forces in combat. They flew around rapidly, making it difficult for Amon's minions to hit them. The glaive worms picked away at the shadows, breaking apart their forms as they cut into them. Dracolisks descended from the sky, striking at those on the ground. The fire ripped deep gouges through Amon's armies as the flames burned through the shadowy figures. After several passes, Amon's minions were devastated, the army cut apart while the rest of the zerg on the ground swarmed in and surrounded them.

Once the remnants of Amon's forces were destroyed, the zerg regrouped and continued their advance. Up ahead was one of the void shards. As they approached, several void thrashers emerged from the ground. The void thrashers began bombarding the incoming zerg, beginning to tear into the army. Then, Kerrigan struck back at the void thrasher, blasting it with even greater power that soon vaporized the void thrasher. Several of the void thrashers turned to attack Kerrigan, their shots impacting against Kerrigan's shield. Meanwhile, the zerg were already beginning to attack, tearing into the void thrashers from the bottom. Another round of attacks from Kerrigan destroyed several more void thrashers, and soon the rest of Amon's forces in the area were crushed.

As the zerg army halted briefly for a short rest, they were soon reinforced by more zerg coming from the leviathans. Then, they pushed onwards to press the assault. Amon's armies continued to sprout up out of the miasma, creating group after group to attack the zerg. However, the constant attacks were blocked by a line of ultralisks, while the hydralisks fired at them from behind the ultralisks. There were also some psionic storms from Kerrigan which thinned out the incoming attackers.

The constant attacks slowed down their progress, but the weight of the zerg advance was too much to stop. When the next void shard was reached, the zerg immediately began swarming in. Once more, void thrashers emerged, only to be beaten down again. With the destruction of the void shard, the corrupted energies dissipated from the area, breaking Amon's grasp over the region.

Without much delay, the zerg continued advancing forward, charging into the next area. As they moved forward, a fleet emerged from the darkness and began firing upon the zerg force. Their first targets were the magilisks that were dispelling the void energies. The shield formations weren't able to withstand the bombardment for long, and Amon's attack was able to destroy the magilisks that were removing the void energies.

Soon, the corrupted energies of the void began drifting back in as their corrosive properties ate away at the zerg forces. But, despite taking some damage, the zerg attacked back with greater force to destroy the attacking fleet. Mutalisks swarmed all over the attacking ships while the dracolisks began tearing through the hulls. Meanwhile, Kerrigan and Lelei were shooting down the ships from the ground with psionic attacks.

The damage to the zerg army remained relatively light. Once the attacking fleet was destroyed, the magilisks quickly coalesced into formation once again to protect the army from the rampant void energies. As the zerg advanced, more void thrashers appeared, but the tide of zerg was numerous enough to completely swamp the void thrashers and tear them to pieces. Finally, Kerrigan destroyed another void shard.

Narud was close, and so was the presence calling out to them. The servant of the fallen one was situated over the temple, surrounded by more of the shadowy warriors. When the zerg approached, the armies of Amon rushed forward to meet the zerg in battle while Narud began attacking them from afar.

The Ultralisks charged into the mass of shades, ripping through many of them with their blades, all the while the remainder of the Swarm followed from behind, tearing through their opponents bit by bit. Tyuule was fighting in the chaotic frontlines as she tore through the multitude of Amon's minions that charged forward. Lelei was using her abilities to manipulate the battlefield, obstructing the advance of the enemies in some areas, while striking down dangerous attackers.

When Narud began tearing through the front ranks of zerg with beams of energy, Kerrigan struck back at him, forcing Narud to break off from his attack to protect himself from Kerrigan's assault. Narud's clumsy attempts to retaliate against Kerrigan's attacks failed to hit, while he himself, being a stationary target, was forced to endure repeated hits from Kerrigan. While Narud was being injured, his forces were faring little better as they were soon broken through by the zerg. Once the remainder of Narud's guards were scattered, the Swarm pounced upon Narud.

A final blast from Kerrigan finished off Narud, and his body broke to pieces as he screamed. His form dissipated into the Void as he died a final death. Narud had been standing guard outside something, and now Kerrigan moved in to investigate, having located the source of the voice trying to call out to her.

A massive creature soon emerged from where it had been imprisoned. Though he was rather unsightly, Kerrigan could sense that it was a creature with great power.

The creature spoke. "I am Ouros, last shepherd of the infinite cycle. I am an enemy of Amon. I am the only xel'naga that survived his purge. Now I am his prisoner."

"So, you want us to free you?" Kerrigan asked.

"No", Ouros replied. "It is impossible. Amon controls the Void. I cannot escape from here."

Kerrigan then questioned Ouros further. "Then what is your purpose in calling us here?"

"The cycle must not be broken", Ouros said. "The merging of purity of form and purity of essence must continue. You, the one called Kerrigan, can merge with my essence. Now, fulfill your destiny. Ascend as xel'naga. Continue the Infinite Cycle."

"I don't have any interest in this Infinite Cycle of yours", Kerrigan replied. "You xel'naga have done enough with your meddling. There is no more need for a cycle. I will not be bound to your vague prophecies and plots. The future does not belong to uncaring gods that watch from above. I will take my destiny into my own hands."

"Powerful though you may be, you cannot stand up against Amon", Ouros said. "Only a xel'naga can defeat the fallen one. I shall give you my essence, and you can ascend."

"What is to stop me from simply killing you and taking your essence by force", Kerrigan said. "It is quicker and simpler."

"Do not be so hasty", Ouros said. "You will not be able to absorb my power as completely in such a manner. Moreover, I possess far too much strength for you to absorb all at once. To maximize your gains, the transfer should be done willingly and gradually. Now, take my power."

"I am not going to be your little worker to restore your cycle", Kerrigan said. "Are you still going to give up your essence. If not, then you will let Amon continue to live."

Ouros was silent for a few moments. Finally, he answered. "You shall have the power you seek, young one. In time you will see the necessity of the Infinite Cycle. It is inevitable."

"I'll be the judge of that", Kerrigan said. "Now, hurry up."

"Prepare yourself", Ouros said.

Ouros began giving up his essence, allowing Kerrigan to begin absorbing it. As the power flowed out from Ouros, Amon took notice. Seeing this, Amon sent his armies to stop the transfer in order to prevent the birth of something greater than him.

The whole of the Swarm was gathered around Kerrigan to defend her during this time. They began fortifying the surrounding area and preparing to repel the attacks from Amon's armies.

The first groups of attackers arrived, beginning to probe the defenses. When they approached, the zerg came out, quickly surrounding the nearby groups and destroying them. Still, this was only a small fraction of what was to come. The bulk of Amon's armies were approaching.

Swarm hosts were positioned near the entrances in order to hold back the tide of attackers. Constant streams of locusts poured forth from the swarm hosts, and they clashed against the incoming groups of attackers. Initially, they performed well, but as more and more of Amon's thralls arrived, they were able to blanket the area with attacks, wiping out the locusts in large numbers. Soon, they were able to push through the tide of locusts and approach the outer defenses.

The spine crawlers began stabbing toward the incoming attackers, tearing through them by the dozens. However, more of the shadows came and rushed forward, only to meet several ultralisks which blocked the way forward. Then, the bombardment started, as the tanks and heavy weaponry used by Amon's forces began targeting the defensive emplacements.

Several of the spine crawlers were blown up by the barrage, along with some of the zerg around them. Then, the zerg at the entrance rushed out, with the ultralisks charging forward to clear out a path while the other zerg followed from behind. Then, larger shadowy creatures emerged, blocking the path of the ultralisks. The armies clashed, with large amounts of damage being dealt to both sides.

The tanks continued to fire into the approaching zerg, destroying dozens of them with each shot. Though the battle had grinded to a halt on the ground, soon the zerg aerial forces flew in. The dracolisks scorched away the front lines of attackers, before diving down onto the tanks, ripping them apart with their claws. During this maneuver, though there were some dracolisks that were caught and shot down by Amon's forces, the majority of them were able to fly away after dealing devastating damage against the attacking army.

As more reinforcements for the zerg arrived, the attack wave was pushed back. However, not long afterwards the zerg had to pull their forces back to the other entrances as more waves of attackers began showing up in all areas. The fight continued to grind onwards, but for the most part the zerg were able to prevent any breaches.

Suddenly, a massive void thrasher appeared in the distance and began bombarding Kerrigan with blasts of psionic energy. While Lelei blocked the barrage with a psionic shield, Tyuule lead a sortie of zerg out to destroy the void thrasher. The void thrasher was quite well protected, as many of Amon's minions had gathered around it.

The zerg attacked, first sending forward a swarm of banelines which blew apart the first few lines of enemies. Then, the ultralisks charged in, tearing into the center. The roaches and hydralisks followed, shooting into the mass of enemies. Several ultralisks soon fell to the vast quantities of firepower from Amon's army, but they were making steady progress as they approached the void thrasher.

Then, the void thrasher turned inwards, before unleashing a barrage of energy that tore through a section of the zerg force. Then, Amon's minions attacking the weakened area of the army, trying to break it apart. A quick response from the zerg reformed their lines, blunting the attack, but the zerg were still forced onto the defensive.

As the battle raged, Tyuule began tearing forward through the crowd of enemies, ripping through them with great ferocity. As more and more of the shadows fell to her claws, the zerg were able to advance, breaking through the hordes of enemies. Then, they approached the void thrasher. It was quite large, but the zerg army pummeled it with an endless stream of attacks, wounding the creature bit by bit.

The thrasher began striking back at its attackers, blowing apart bits of the army. However, there were still more zerg attacking. Finally, Tyuule hit the thrasher head on, ripping deeply into its chest. Then, she struck its head, bringing down the massive creature.

It wasn't time to enjoy their small victory though. A new army was approaching and it was time for the zerg strike force to retreat so that it wouldn't get swallowed up.

The zerg fliers quickly engaged the approaching army. However, they had ships of their own, which began fighting back against the approaching mutalisks and dracolisks. Many of the ships were occupied in the attack, and countless mutalisks were being shot down, but the dracolisks were able to strafe the ground forces several times, thinning out the army.

Meanwhile, as the attackers got closer they were hit by the zerg's own version of artillery. The magilisks floating in the air bombarded the battlefield with powerful attacks, ripping through clustered groups of enemies. Lelei was fighting as well, sending streaks of psionic energy which blasted apart war machines and ships. Amon's forces were faltering somewhat even as they began approaching the base.

Another void thrasher emerged and began its attack. In response, the zerg began focusing their firepower on the area closest to the thrasher, obliterating almost all the attackers near there. Then, a zerg army charged out to engage the thrasher. Of course, this came at a cost. While the zerg focused their attention on a single front, Amon's armies were able to make advances near the other entrances, breaking through the initial line of defenses.

However, more zerg soon arrived to plug the breach, quickly surrounding any of the attackers that made it this far. The attackers on the ground were soon driven back again, while the zerg were winning the battle in the air. The strike group managed to kill the void thrasher, eliminating the threat before withdrawing. The remainder of Amon's army came forward for another attack, throwing themselves toward the zerg with everything they had. While the attack managed to inflict yet more losses, ultimately the shadows were wiped out.

While it looked as though the worst was over, suddenly an even larger army of void creatures appeared in the distance, far more numerous than the previous attack wave. Amon had gathered together as many slaves as he could.

Suddenly, a bright flash lit up the area.

"It is time", Ouros said as he died. "You have become xel'naga, the last product of the Infinite Cycles."

A vast amount of energy burst forth from Kerrigan, disintegrating all of the approaching shadows. With Amon's minions scoured from the area, Kerrigan descended.

The vast infusion of power had filled Kerrigan, and power spilled out of her as golden wisps. Kerrigan's new form composed of pure energy was one that resembled a radiant angel.

"You look… different", Tyuule said.

"Well, how do you like my new look?", Kerrigan asked. "Now that I have transcended a physical body, I could make myself look like whatever I want."

"Eh, I don't really like it", Lelei said. "It is a bit pretentious, and I thought you didn't want to act like those gods with their glowing figures."

"I think you looked just fine the way you were before", Tyuule said. "But I don't really care."

"Hmm, perhaps this look doesn't quite suit me", Kerrigan said. Then, her form shifted, morphing into the shape of the Queen of Blades. "I always did like purple."

Finally, Kerrigan turned and looked toward the distance. "It is time to kill Amon, once and for all."

* * *

Amon resided within a large platform floating within the Void. Now, Kerrigan approached, ready to finish the fight against Amon. The area was filled with Amon's minions, shadows born from the Void. Kerrigan unleashed a blast of energy, instantly vaporizing the nearby shadows. Then the zerg began landing upon the rocky surface as they secured a foothold. Meanwhile, Kerrigan started probing Amon's defenses.

"Amon has a barrier up to protect himself", Kerrigan said. "We will have to disable it if we are to proceed. It is powered by void crystals, and Amon must send them out periodically to recharge. That is our chance to strike at them and destroy them."

More of Amon's minions began forming out of the Void, coming into being to serve their master. They began moving to attack, but Kerrigan met them head on, blasting them apart casually with her power.

Then, one of the void crystals began floating outwards. The zerg armies instantly rushed toward it, tearing through the minions in their way. Once they reached the crystal, the zerg started attacking it, shooting the crystal from all sides. Suddenly, massive pillars fell from above, embedding themselves in the ground. The constructs then opened up and began tearing through the ranks of zerg with beams of chaotic energy.

While the first strikes caught the zerg by surprise, they soon organized themselves, tearing down the constructs with their claws and teeth. Kerrigan was blasting through the pillars, melting them apart. Once those were destroyed, they focused on bringing down the void crystal before it could return to Amon. Soon, the crystal shattered, bringing Amon one step closer to defeat.

The next void crystal was already coming out. As the zerg advanced toward it, multiple void chasms appeared, spewing out more of Amon's minions that came forward to attack. The zerg armies were attacked from all sides by the minions of Amon, but with Kerrigan's aid they were able to destroy the shadows. Then, Lelei focused on sealing the chasms to prevent any more void creatures from spilling forth.

The void crystal drifted nearby and it was attacked by the assembled swarm of zerg, from above with the mutalisks striking it with their glaive worms, and the dracolisks tearing into it with their claws, as well as from below with hydralisks peppering it with spines. Even though the crystal was massive, it began to chip away and crumble to pieces.

Little by little, Amon's defenses were peeled away. With the destruction of the last of his void crystals, his barrier deactivated, leaving him vulnerable.

Kerrigan approached Amon, ready for the final confrontation. As she drew near, Amon spoke. "You are but the product of a flawed cycle. Manipulated for the entirety of your existence."

"I care not about what you say, Amon", Kerrigan replied. "The Infinite Cycle doesn't matter to me. I do this not out of obligation to a dead race. Rather, this is my own choice. I do this because I want to. Now, your death will come."

Kerrigan struck Amon with a massive blast of energy which tore through the body of the fallen xel'naga. As Amon fell, Kerrigan reached forth and took what remained of his essence.

Finally, Kerrigan floated downwards, where the rest of the Swarm awaited.

"Amon has been defeated", Kerrigan said. "He will never return. He will never threaten the universe again."

"What are you going to do now?" Tyuule asked. "You have defeated all your foes, what else is there to fight?"

"I know not what the future holds", Kerrigan said. "We shall see how things go. Wherever life takes me, that is where I shall go. Now, we are free. Unbound by the shackles of a master. No longer restricted by the fear of an enemy. The zerg are ascendent, and we are free to do what we want."

"So will you be coming with us?", Lelei asked.

"Of course", Kerrigan said. "The zerg will stay together as one. And I shall always be there for all of you. No matter what happens. Come now, the future awaits."

* * *

 **End of story author's note:**

 **As I reflect upon my experience writing this story, I conclude that it was an overall positive experience. There were things that I was proud of, and there were places I feel that I was lacking in. I had set out to write a fic that was different, as I was tired of seeing the gate fics, and starcraft fics, follow the same events. I did manage to make a gate fic that was different, though the starcraft portion unfortunately did not provide as much opportunity for divergence. But it is best to dwell on the better parts of life, and I do feel some pride in this work. 6 months, that is how long the story took from beginning to end. It wasn't a short period of time, though it isn't long compared to other fanfictions. I managed to maintain a constant weekly release rate without any interruption, though there were times when that was difficult and I only barely made the deadline. To the readers, and especially those who commented, thank you all for sticking with me throughout the course of this story. The completion of a story is always a great thing, and I hope you all enjoyed it.**


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